The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is one of the world’s leading public health universities.
Our mission is to improve health and health equity in the UK and worldwide; working in partnership to achieve excellence in public and global health research, education and translation of knowledge into policy and practice. We are committed to helping create a more healthy, sustainable and equitable world for everyone, because we believe our shared future depends on our shared health.
Past and present
Founded in 1899 at the London Docks, LSHTM has two UK sites in the Bloomsbury area of London at Keppel Street and Tavistock Place, and units in The Gambia and Uganda. Originally set up to serve a colonial mission, today we are a global network of specialist centres and partners, working together to improve health worldwide. Our dedicated and influential community of staff, students and alumni work in government, academia, international agencies and health services across the world. Learn more about the history of LSHTM.
Impact
With our international presence and collaborative ethos, we are uniquely placed to help shape health policy and translate research findings into tangible impact to meet today’s challenges. The results of the latest government's Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021) acknowledged the strength and depth of LSHTM’s world-leading research. We ranked first for the key measure of and joint 10th overall of all universities in the UK, in tables published by the . We were also one of only three institutions found by the REF to be providing a world-leading environment for public health research in the UK.
We were at the forefront of informing the UK and global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and before that during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Today, we live in a time of accelerating change and uncertainty, where humanity’s growing global footprint is disrupting the climate and the ecosystems we rely on. We see news every day about floods and heat surges, famines and epidemics. At LSHTM, we’re working on new approaches to help people and communities see further and act faster to get ahead of the major challenges affecting health.
Research
Research income has grown to more than £190 million per year from national and international funding sources including UK government and research councils, the European Union, the Wellcome Trust, Gates Foundation and other philanthropic sources. Our staff are conducting research in more than 100 countries.
Our diverse research talents, skills and experience underpin our position as a leader in public and global health. These range from the molecular to the global, the theoretical to the applied, the analytical to the political. Our experts go beyond pathogens and pathology to understand how the structures of societies affect health and wellbeing, and how people in different situations and circumstances respond.
Education
We are committed to training future health leaders, managers and researchers across the world to take on the challenges of our time. Our research-led educational programmes in public and global health offer a stimulating and truly global outlook. We have around 1,200 face-to-face Master's and Doctoral students, 2,500 studying by distance learning, and 900 each year on short courses and continuous professional development. Full of passion and curiosity, our students are a key part of our global network and mission to improve health worldwide.
Knowledge exchange
LSHTM undertakes a wide range of knowledge exchange (KE) activities, working with partners for the benefit of society and the economy in alignment with our mission to translate knowledge into policy and practice. Our contributions in KE are regularly captured through the Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF), across seven categories including working with research partners, businesses, the public and the third sector, public and community engagement, and commercialisation of research.
The latest results for , show that LSHTM has very high engagement – the highest possible grade - in research partnerships, and working with the public and third sector within the STEM cluster (KE clusters are groups of organisations which have similar capabilities and resources). LSHTM is rated as having high engagement in a further two of the seven categories: public and community engagement, and commercialisation. The KEF4 results were published by Research England, and are based on narrative submissions and quantitative data covering the period 2020/21-2022/23.
Staff community
We have around 3,500 staff based all around the world with core hubs in London and at the MRC Units in The Gambia and Uganda, which joined LSHTM in February 2018. Our outstanding, diverse and committed staff make an impact where it is most needed - deploying research in real time in response to crises, developing innovative programmes for major health threats, or training the next generation of public and global health leaders and researchers.
Partnerships
Working in partnership is central to achieving our mission. Our strategic collaborations in the UK and across high-, middle- and low-income countries aim to address health inequalities across the world. Being open to different perspectives helps us see the bigger picture and sparks new ideas. To meet the challenges of today, we need to see further ahead. To help us achieve this, we are building better networks of collaboration and coordination, drawing together different expertise and lived experience from all parts of the world so we can move quickly to effect change and turn insights and ideas into action on the ground.
LSHTM is also a member of the M8 Alliance of Academic Health Centers, Universities and National Academies, the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region, and the Consortium of Universities for Global Health.
Excellence in research and education
We perform strongly in various global university league tables. In the ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2024 we placed 2nd in (1st in the UK). In the LSHTM was ranked 1st in the UK for publishing open access research and 1st in the UK for the proportion of academic research with women listed as authors. Our global partnerships were also recognised, with LSHTM placed in first position in the UK and 18th in the world for the proportion of our research which includes international collaboration.
In the , we ranked , , , and . We ranked in the 2024 QS World University Rankings.
In 2017, the inaugural Center for World University Rankings by Subject placed LSHTM research, and seventh for , , and .
LSHTM was named University of the Year 2016 by Times Higher Education and awarded a Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2017 in recognition of our response to the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa. In 2022 we received a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for our response to COVID-19. LSHTM does not appear in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings as universities are excluded if they do not teach undergraduates.
We seek to foster and sustain a creative and supportive working environment based on respect and rigorous scientific enquiry. As an organisation with connections and partnerships across the world, it's our responsibility to do everything we can to break down barriers and challenge inequitable power structures and attitudes. We embrace and value the diversity of our staff and student population and seek to promote equality as an essential element in improving health worldwide.
Institution specific funding
LSHTM is one of around 20 specialist institutions that receive institution specific funding from the (OfS). This funding recognises the additional costs that LSHTM incurs because of its unique range of teaching, specialist facilities, and the scale of its contributions to national and international agencies.