The Umeå Centre for Global Health Research (UCGHR) was a

centre of excellence A center of excellence (COE or CoE ), also called excellence center, is a team, a shared facility or an entity that provides leadership, best practices, research, support or training for a focus area. Due to its broad usage and vague legal prec ...

within

Umeå University Umeå University ( sv, Umeå universitet; Ume Sami: ) is a public research university located in Umeå, in the mid-northern region of Sweden. The university was founded in 1965 and is the fifth oldest within Sweden's present borders. As of 2015 ...

in northern

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. The centre operated within the university's Department of Epidemiology and Global Health, and was led by a steering group chaired by a principal investigator. UCGHR sought to engage with a global agenda on health research and practice, addressing critical issues in

global health Global health is the health of the populations in the worldwide context; it has been defined as "the area of study, research and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide". Problem ...

and facilitating collaboration between and within the North and South. The centre's long-term research programme has been developed against a background of international epidemiological research, as well as

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

work within Sweden. The centre was responsible for publishing the open-access academic journal ''

Global Health Action ''Global Health Action'' is a peer-reviewed open access healthcare journal published by Taylor & Francis in partnership with Umeå University. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journal had a 2018 impact factor The impact factor ...

''.

Research

Research conducted within UCGHR was interdisciplinary in nature, with staff and students working together from backgrounds in

demography Demography () is the statistics, statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and Population dynamics, dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups ...

sciences,

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...

and

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

. Research activities were clustered around five areas of expertise: * The

epidemiological transition In demography and medical geography, epidemiological transition is a theory which "describes changing population patterns in terms of fertility, life expectancy, mortality, and leading causes of death." For example, a phase of development marked ...

- research aims to contribute to theoretical and methodological development of the epidemiological transition theory by contrasting disadvantaged communities in low-income countries to the well-developed setting of northern Sweden. * A life course perspective on health interventions - research aims to design and evaluate health interventions targeting different stages of the life course, from the unborn child to old age, taking into account social context and gender aspects, and both advantaged and disadvantaged communities. * Strengthening

primary health care Primary health care, or PHC, refers to "essential health care" that is based on scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology. This makes universal health care accessible to all individuals and families in a community. PHC in ...

: the roles of rights, ethics and economic analyses - research is designed to inform key stakeholders involved in decision-making to strengthen primary health care in low-, middle- and high-income countries, using rights-based approaches integrated with economic analyses. *

Gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...

, social inequality and health - research is based on the generation of new knowledge on gender and health, with the aim of contributing to social changes within populations and in health systems. *

Climate change and health The effects of climate change on human health include direct effects of extreme weather, leading to injury and loss of life, as well as indirect effects, such as undernutrition brought on by crop failures or a lack of access to safe drinking water. ...

- research is intended to fill the knowledge gap regarding links between climate change and health, with a focus on non-communicable diseases, ageing populations, health sector responses in low-income countries and issues particular to the

Arctic region The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...

. Many of UCGHR's research projects were linked t
INDEPTH
(the International Network for the Demographic Evaluation of Populations and Their Health), a network of field sites in countries across Africa, Asia and South America. This network provides a platform to share and exchange vital health data between some of the world's poorest countries and enables comparative studies of global research questions related to disease development,

urbanisation Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly the ...

and

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

as well as opportunities to develop methods and evaluate interventions.Evans, T. and AbouZahr, C. (2008
'INDEPTH @ 10: Celebrate the past and illuminate the future'
Global Health Action,

Education

Research training was essential to UCGHR. Th
Swedish Research School for Global Health
was the result of a partnership between the centre and the

Karolinska Institute The Karolinska Institute (KI; sv, Karolinska Institutet; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden. The Karolinska Institute is consist ...

, Stockholm. The school seeks to achieve multidisciplinary collaboration in education, research and training by coordinating courses and seminars in

, and improving the quality of research training.

Notes

External links

''Global Health Action'' open access journal

Umeå University

Department of Epidemiology and Global Health, Umeå University

Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region

INDEPTH Network
{{DEFAULTSORT:Umea Centre for Global Health Research International medical and health organizations Schools of public health Research institutes in Sweden Umeå University