London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Bringing together world leaders in research and communications, both with a shared desire to use their skills to improve health, the collaboration will use their creative skills and innovative thinking to unlock transformative solutions to global health challenges.

LSHTM is a leading research and education institution for public and global health with experts working on issues including disease outbreak response, vaccine development such as responses to Ebola and Zika outbreaks. WPP Health Practice brings together the world’s largest collection of health communications specialists that use creativity, data and technology and specialist talent to make a difference to world health.

The partnership will see LSHTM’s students receive expert, practical guidance in building fluency in communications to support them in their future careers and provide new opportunities for academic staff to translate their research findings and maximise real-world impact. WPP Health Practice will benefit from collaborating with some of the world’s foremost researchers and public health leaders, further expanding its understanding of major global health issues.

Professor Peter Piot, Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: “Ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to live a healthy life is the driving force behind all of our work at LSHTM. Today on World Health Day we are reminded there is a long way to go, with new approaches desperately needed. The combination of effective communications and a deep understanding of health, policy and science is fundamental to improving health worldwide. Mixing our research and academic leadership in health with the communications expertise within WPP Health Practice will add value to the work we do. It’s just one of the latest moves in LSHTM’s long history of finding new approaches and new partnerships to address some of our most critical global health challenges.”

As part of the collaboration, LSHTM students now have access to WPP Health Practice’s award winning teams specialising in every aspect of health marketing including medical science, data analytics, health economics, behavioural science and creative communications. 

Claire Gillis, International CEO, WPP Health Practice, said: “WPP Health Practice passionately believes that communications can make a difference to global health. Our partnership with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine presents a powerful opportunity to translate world-renowned research into communications that transform health. The collaboration strengthens our understanding of disease and populations and gives LSHTM access to extraordinary creative talent to shape evidence-based communications that address global health needs. We’re looking forward to working together to connect the dots and develop creative solutions that empower people to make better decisions about their health.”

Last year, the two institutions also collaborated on the 2018 Women Leaders in Global Health conference, advancing a collective new vision for global health leadership and building opportunities for women to progress. Further collaborations to harness the collective power of the LSHTM and WPP Heath Practice to improve global health initiatives will be rolled out in the coming year.