Public health: A strategic priority
Public health is a local, national and global priority. It is concerned with improving population health and addressing the root causes of ill health through prevention, equity, and system-wide innovation.
Public health today faces complex and interrelated challenges – rising non-communicable diseases, mental health conditions, persistent health inequalities, pressures on healthcare systems, and the emergence of genomics, big data, and AI.
Addressing these challenges demands joined-up action. At Cambridge, this means drawing on expertise across all six Schools and engaging with partners, policymakers, and communities.
Cambridge Public Health (CPH) is an innovative interdisciplinary research centre that embodies this approach – bringing together world-leading expertise from across the University and working in partnership with researchers, public health professionals, policymakers and communities to support collaborative, system-wide responses to public health challenges.
Our role
Cambridge Public Health connects people, ideas, and opportunities to strengthen public health research and its impact.
We bring together researchers across disciplines and departments, build collaborations that address urgent public health priorities, and support the translation of research into real-world outcomes.
We work across all six Schools of the University and in partnership with public health professionals, policymakers, and communities.
Our aim
To create an inclusive environment and infrastructure that enables impactful interdisciplinary public health research across the University.
We aim to foster collaborations and research proposals that generate innovative solutions, influence policy and practice, and improve population health.
CPH is a welcoming, university-wide community for all researchers and external partners whose work has public health relevance.
Our vision
A vibrant public health research ecosystem at Cambridge, driven by interdisciplinary collaboration, rooted in public health practice, and open to all those whose work has public health relevance.
What we do
Our work focuses on enabling and accelerating high-quality public health research and its application. We do this by:
- Convening interdisciplinary research communities around priority areas
- Facilitating collaborations that lead to successful research proposals, policy engagement and practical impact
- Strengthening regional partnerships with public health professionals across the NHS, local government, and national policy networks
- Supporting researchers across career stages through training, leadership opportunities, interdisciplinary networking and collaborative supervision
- Enhancing the visibility of public health at Cambridge through communications and events
Where we started
This short video was created when Cambridge Public Health was first launched in 2020.
