RA 1: Global Health Innovation
RA 1
RA 2
RA 3
RA 4
RA 5
RA 6
Innovating health through cultural, social, biomedical, and technological perspectives to tackle inequalities and reshape global health systems.
RA 1 Leads
KCL
Prof Seeromanie Harding
QMUL
Prof Giuliano Russo
ICL
Prof Marjo-Ritta Jarvelin
About this Research Area
This Research Area explores the intersections of health, society, and culture across diverse contexts and health system maturities. Research investigates the determinants of health and behavioural outcomes, with a strong focus on how social and cultural understandings of disease, lived experiences of illness, and practices of medical pluralism shape health interventions and outcomes. Attention is given to the ways in which cultures of medicine influence public trust, access, and equity, as well as to the political and ethical implications of bioscience and biomedicine, including debates around biopolitics and biosecurity.
Harnessing health data to tackle inequalities, improve care, and inform innovation worldwide.
The area examines both global and local healthcare markets, the governance of services, and the reform of health systems in pursuit of universal health coverage. Researchers also engage with the design and evaluation of complex interventions, considering how they address persistent health inequalities and multidimensional crises. Mental and physical health are explored across the life course, alongside the role of environment and geopolitics in shaping vulnerabilities and opportunities for health. Health informatics and digital technologies are examined as transformative forces that both enable and challenge existing systems.
By integrating biomedical, cultural, political, and technological perspectives, this Research Area seeks to foster innovative approaches to global health governance and practice.
Data Statement
Research Students
Doctoral research in RA1 is expected to combine methodological rigour with reflexivity, ensuring that design and evidence are aligned with research aims. Projects are encouraged to embrace interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches, using methods not only to generate findings but also to critically examine the assumptions and knowledge structures that underpin global health research. Ethical considerations, including equity of access, cultural sensitivity, and data governance, are central. This orientation supports innovative and impactful research that contributes to improved health outcomes globally.
