GovWire

Government awards over £120 million for global health research

Department of Health

July 14
16:19 2017

The Department of Health has announced that 33 research units and groups will receive over 120 million funding for global health research. It comes after an open research competition led by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

Following the success of this initial competition, a call for a second round of applications has also been launched today, funded by 40 million from the Department of Health Official Developmental Assistance (ODA) budget.

The aim of this research is to improve the health of patients and public in low and middle-income countries. Such research is vital to protect the UK at home. Disease knows no borders, and we are continually under threat from poorly understood infections and antimicrobial resistance.

Good health is a global endeavour and the UK is a leader in this area of research and innovation.

The selected 33 successful NIHR global health research units and groups include:

  • The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in collaboration with India, The Phillipines, Colombia and Nigeria - to provide global surveillance data for bacterial pathogens through whole genome sequencing, to inform public health policy, and providing resourcing and training for local capacity

  • University of Dundee with India - a large scale clinical partnership between Scotland and India to combat diabetes through genetic epidemiology and pharmacogenetics

  • Swansea University with Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Nepal, Senegal, Ghana, India, Syria, West Bank - to develop effective and deliverable solutions to improve services and outcomes for patients in the treatment and prevention of burn injuries in conflict

  • University College London with Malawi, Mali, Gambia, Kenya, West Bank and South Africa - Mucosal Pathogens Research Unit addressing pneumonia, meningitis and neonatal sepsis, addressing limitations in the long-term effectiveness of existing vaccines

Health Minister Lord OShaughnessy said:

This funding allows our universities to strengthen their research and expertise as leaders in global health research.

The UK will continue to be at the forefront of health knowledge, and it is only right that we support other nations as they improve care for patients and public.

A full list of successful projects from the first wave of funding are shown in the table below.

Details about the new call for applications

For the second wave of funding, awards of up to 2 million over 3 years are available for additional global health research groups.

The NIHR are keen to see proposals from world-leading academic groups in the UK that wish to expand into the field of global health working in partnership with researchers in developing countries. Applications close 20 October 2017.

For more information please see the NIHR website

Full list of successful projects from first wave of funding

Title Host institution Brief summary of work
NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Tackling Infections to Benefit Africa, The University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh Our vision is to harness the combined resources of the University of Edinburgh and 9 African partners to reduce the burden of infectious diseases by strengthening health systems
NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Neglected Tropical Diseases, BSMS University of Sussex A Sussex-based partnership that undertakes world class interdisciplinary research on neglected tropical diseases in African countries and rapidly translates this research into benefits for patients, families and communities
NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease in South Asians, Imperial College London Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine We will translate scientific discoveries and technological innovations into sustainable improvements in healthcare, to deliver improved prevention and better treatment of both diabetes and heart disease, amongst people from South Asia
NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Health in Situations of Fragility Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh The unit identifies sources of resilience within formal health systems and local community processes to facilitate effective provision for health priorities - particularly mental health and non-communicable disease - in situations of fragility
NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery, University of Birmingham University of Birmingham The NIHR Unit on Global Surgery will develop global surgical research, relevant to low and middle-income countries, by establishing sustainable international research hubs and delivering practice changing research for better patient outcomes
NIHR Global Health Research Unit Action on Salt China (ASC), Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London ASC is a NIHR-funded unit for salt reduction in China through research and public health programmes led by the Wolfson Institute, QMUL, UK and The George Institute China
NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Genomic Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute Establishing expertise and local research capacity in the use of whole genome sequencing in low and middle income countries to provide intelligent global surveillance of microbial pathogens and antimicrobial resistance
NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Lung health and Tuberculosis Research in Africa, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Our NIHR unit aims to improve the health of children and adults in Africa through multi-disciplinary applied health research on lung health and tuberculosis
NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Health System Strengthening in Sub-Saharan Africa, Kings College London Kings College London The Kings College London NIHR unit on Health System Strengthening in Sub-Saharan Africa will work across primary care, maternal and surgical care platforms, developing, adapting and evaluating health system strengthening interventions to enhance the processes and outcomes of evidence based care
NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Diabetes Outcomes Research, University of Dundee University of Dundee This unit is a large scale Scotland/India Clinical Partnership using innovative big data and mobile technologies to provide low cost personalized medicine to combat ill health associated with diabetes
NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Improving Health in Slums, The University of Warwick University of Warwick The NIHR unit is focused improving the health and welfare of people who live in slums across Africa and South Asia

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