Research at the Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care
We aim to understand and influence determinants of health and health behaviour across the lifecourse. We develop and evaluate cross-sectoral policies and strategies to improve health, and enhance healthcare delivery and practice.
Our interdisciplinary teams span epidemiology, medical statistics, health psychology, sociology, health economics, public health, primary care, public policy, and improvement science.
Our research departments
Behavioural Science and Health
We research how behaviour and emotions affect health and disease, and use this knowledge to improve population health through high-quality teaching and innovation
Epidemiology and Public Health
We conduct timely, rigorous, and independent research to advance our understanding of health and the prevention of ill health across populations.
Primary Care and Population Health
We are a multidisciplinary teaching and research centre working collaboratively to improve the health of individuals and populations.
Our partners
We work in partnership with international agencies, NGOs, Ministries of Health, educational institutions, the UK NHS and enterprise to improve health.
The World Health Organisation has designated two of our research groups as WHO Collaborating Centres:
- UCL’s Psychobiology Group in Behavioral Science and Health (WHO Collaborating Centre on Arts & Health)
- UCL's Dental Public Health Research Group (World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre of Oral Health Inequalities and Public Health)
Research Excellence Framework (REF)
In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF), we were delighted with the following results:
- 95% of submissions were graded 4* (world-leading) or 3* (internationally excellent).
- 91% of research outputs (publications) were graded 3 or 4*
- 95% of our impact statements were graded 4*, and 100% were graded 3 or 4*, ranking us second nationally in terms of the real-world impact of our research.
- The “Environment” (an assessment of issues such as how well our staff are supported, our research infrastructure and our approaches to ensuring research integrity) was rated 100% at 4* making us joint first in the UK as a great place to conduct Public Health, Health Services and Primary Care Research.
- Our Faculty contributed a total of 17 innovative pieces of research.
Our research programme
We have an internationally competitive research programme focused on:
- Understanding the determinants of health and disease across the lifecourse in populations and in clinical settings. This includes the investigation of genetic, biological, behavioural, psychosocial and cultural processes.
- Evaluating strategies for the prevention and treatment of physical and mental ill-health.
- Monitoring and surveillance of health and health care nationally and internationally.
- Carrying out innovative work on behaviour change and on the practice of primary care.
- Developing and implementing new technologies in teaching and research in population health.
- Teaching and capacity building in population health research and practice.
- Applied health and health policy research.
Our people
Our team is multidisciplinary, with expertise across clinical, public health, and primary care medicine, epidemiology, medical statistics, health psychology, sociology, health economics, public policy, information technology, genetics, physiology, and improvement science.
We have strong national and international interdisciplinary collaborations with a large portfolio of international research linked to the UCL Global Health Initiative.