Imperial ranked third in UK University Global Health Research League Table

Imperial College London has taken third place in a new table that ranks UK universities according to their commitment to global health research.

The new league table, which was launched in the Houses of Parliament yesterday by student group Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) and student network Medsin-UK, reveals that only a few top institutions invest a substantial proportion of their research money in global health research.  Oxford University came first, followed by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Imperial College London, University College London and the University of Liverpool.

Universities have been graded using criteria measuring research funding and output, including the level of investment in global health research and research in neglected diseases that affect primarily the world’s poorest; whether they share new discoveries in ways that ensure medicines reach people in developing countries at affordable prices; and how much of their research is freely available online.

Medsin-UK and UAEM found that 74 per cent of global health research and 78 per cent of neglected disease research done in UK universities happens in the five top universities in each category. Of the 25 leading UK research universities, only seven have committed to making their discoveries accessible in developing countries.

“We are delighted to be recognised for our efforts in global health research” said Professor the Lord Ara Darzi, Director of Imperial’s Institute of Global Health Innovation. “However, there is still a long way to go and improvements to be made.  We are developing our programmes, which span a wide breadth of important global health research areas, and are working towards our strengths.  It is now more imperative than ever that greater strides are taken in global health research in universities across the UK in order to fully achieve our goals and improve health across the world.”

The top 25:

1. University of Oxford
2. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
3. Imperial College London
4. University College London
5. University of Liverpool
6. University of Edinburgh
7. University of Dundee
8. University of Aberdeen
9. University of Bristol
10. University of Glasgow
11. King’s College London
12. University of Sussex
13. University of Southampton
14. University of Leeds
15. University of Cambridge
16. University of Nottingham
17. University of Leicester
18. University of Manchester
19. Queen Mary University of London
20. University of Warwick
21. University of Birmingham
22. Cardiff University
23. Newcastle University
24. University of Sheffield
25. University of Reading