Imperial launches £100m campaign to shape the future of public health

Imperial College London has launched a £100m fundraising campaign to transform health and wellbeing.

This is a once in a generation opportunity to transform the way we work to improve health and wellbeing. Professor Alice Gast President

The ambitious campaign will support the development of a new, innovative and interconnected School of Public Health at the College’s White City Campus which will pioneer new approaches to society’s most pressing healthcare challenges. 

Through the Transforming Health and Wellbeing campaign, the College aims to raise £100m in philanthropic support to amplify work in four key areas: World Health, Food and Nutrition, Community Health and Policy, and Children’s Health and Wellbeing.   

The College’s priority is to create world-class facilities for research, education, community outreach and clinical trials, and support its talented staff and students through chairs, fellowships and scholarships. 

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World leading

Imperial is one of the world’s leading institutions for public health research, delivering ground-breaking research at local, national and international levels. Its researchers translate scientific advances into improvements in health policy, prevention and treatment of disease, and provision of health services, education and primary care. 

The core aim of the campaign is to create a new state-of-the-art multidisciplinary hub to provide collaborative, flexible, and interactive spaces for the College’s world-leading academics, talented students, and the local White City community.

With a focus on intervention and prevention, the School will use the power of data and technology to gain insight into some of the most complex issues in population health and design new solutions, bringing those health innovations to those who need it most. 

The fundraising campaign is also a landmark moment in Imperial’s commitment to the White City community. The new School of Public Health will bring cutting-edge research expertise and evidence-based solutions to the public health challenges that affect the local community most profoundly. 

Once in a generation opportunity

Professor Alice Gast, President of Imperial College London, said: “This is a once in a generation opportunity to transform the way we work to improve health and wellbeing. 

“We can make a difference in health and well-being by bringing powerful new diagnostic technologies, predictive capabilities, knowledge of our genetics, understanding of our microbiome and metabolism, and data analytics to move us into a position of strength, making prevention and early intervention possible.  Researchers from our world-leading School of Public Health are pushing these new frontiers to change outcomes in London, across the UK, and throughout the world. 

“We will also have a tremendous impact in our community at White City.  By taking an approach of listening to, collaborating with and supporting local residents, we will develop a new mode of working with the community and a new paradigm for Public Health." 

Tackling global challenges

Professor Deborah Ashby, Director of the School of Public Health, said:  “Obesity, malnutrition, diabetes, heart disease, dementia and infectious diseases are among today’s major global public health challenges. In the School of Public Health, Imperial researchers are using advanced science, emerging technology and thoughtful intervention to find new ways to respond to these threats. 

“This campaign will mean that the public health staff who are now spread over four locations can come together in White City. The fact that we will have the molecular sciences research hub and the Uren Biomedical engineering hub just steps away will provide many new opportunities to collaborate with colleagues from different disciplines, and we will benefit from the proximity of the Hammersmith Medical campus.  The White City campus eco-system, with innovation and startup activity present, and the industry partners in the I-Hub will be an enormous plus for all of us in Public Health.  

“I believe that we will be in a very strong position to improve health on both a local and global scale by strengthening the public health science base, training the next generation of public health leaders, and influencing health policies and programmes around the world.”