The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kn ...

in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

that specialises in

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 ...

and tropical medicine. The institution was founded in 1899 by

Sir Patrick Manson Sir Patrick Manson (3 October 1844 – 9 April 1922) was a Scottish physician who made important discoveries in parasitology, and was a founder of the field of tropical medicine. He graduated from University of Aberdeen with degrees in Master ...

, after a donation from the Indian Parsi philanthropist B. D. Petit. Since its foundation it has become one of the most highly placed institutions in global rankings in the fields of

and infectious diseases. The annual income of the institution for 2020–21 was £244.2 million, of which £167.6 million was from research grants and contracts, with expenditures totalling £235.2 million during the same period.

History

Origins (1899–1913)

The school was founded on October 2, 1899, by

as the London School of Tropical Medicine after the Parsi philanthropist

Bomanjee Dinshaw Petit ''Seth'' Bomanjee Dinshaw Petit (27 March 1859 – 17 December 1915)''Parsi Statues'', Marzban Jamshedji Giara, 2000, p. 197 was son of Sir Dinshaw Maneckjee Petit, Bart, and a noted cotton mill owner and philanthropist from Bombay. He was born ...

made a donation of £6,666. It was initially located at the

Albert Dock Seamen's Hospital The Albert Dock Seamen's Hospital was a hospital provided by the Seamen's Hospital Society for the care of ex-members of the Merchant navy, the fishing fleets and their dependents. It was opened in 1890 as a branch of the Dreadnought Seamen's ...

in the

London Docklands London Docklands is the riverfront and former docks in London. It is located in inner east and southeast London, in the boroughs of Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Lewisham, Newham, and Greenwich. The docks were formerly part of the Port o ...

. Just prior to this teaching in tropical medicine had been commenced in 1899 at the Extramural school at Edinburgh and even earlier at London's

Livingstone College Livingstone College is a private, historically black Christian college in Salisbury, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Livingstone College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the S ...

founded in 1893. Before giving lectures at

St George's Hospital St George's Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Tooting, London. Founded in 1733, it is one of the UK's largest teaching hospitals and one of the largest hospitals in Europe. It is run by the St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundatio ...

, London, in 1895, Livingstone College afforded Manson his first opportunity to teach courses in tropical medicine. Manson's early career was as a physician in the Far East. On his return to London, he was appointed Medical Advisor to the

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created to deal with the colonial affairs of British North America but required also to oversee the increasing number of c ...

. He strongly believed that physicians should be trained in tropical medicine to treat British colonial administrators and others working throughout Britain's tropical

empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

. He also encouraged and mentored

Ronald Ross Sir Ronald Ross (13 May 1857 – 16 September 1932) was a British medical doctor who received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on the transmission of malaria, becoming the first British Nobel laureate, and the ...

during this period to uncover the correct etiology of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. ...

, which Ross subsequently discovered in 1897, winning the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

for his efforts. The original school was established as part of the

Seamen's Hospital Society The Seafarers Hospital Society, formerly the Seamen's Hospital Society, is a charity for people currently or previously employed by the British Merchant Navy and fishing fleets, and their families. It was established in 1821. Current activiti ...

. In 1902, the benefactor Petit wrote the following about the institution in a letter to Sir Francis Lovell (Dean of the school), quoted in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

''. Among the school's early achievements were discoveries by George Carmichael Low, who proved

filariasis Filariasis is a parasitic disease caused by an infection with roundworms of the Filarioidea type. These are spread by blood-feeding insects such as black flies and mosquitoes. They belong to the group of diseases called helminthiases. These ...

is spread by mosquito bites, and Aldo Castellani, who discovered

trypanosomes Trypanosomatida is a group of kinetoplastid excavates distinguished by having only a single flagellum. The name is derived from the Greek ''trypano'' (borer) and ''soma'' (body) because of the corkscrew-like motion of some trypanosomatid species ...

in the cerebral fluid of those affected by

sleeping sickness African trypanosomiasis, also known as African sleeping sickness or simply sleeping sickness, is an insect-borne parasitic infection of humans and other animals. It is caused by the species ''Trypanosoma brucei''. Humans are infected by two typ ...

. Experiments were also conducted by the school's faculty which provided proof that mosquitoes act as the

vector Vector most often refers to: *Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction *Vector (epidemiology), an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematic ...

in the spread of

World Wars (1914–1945)

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, many of the faculty were

conscripted Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day und ...

into the army where they often continued to treat or research

tropical disease Tropical diseases are diseases that are prevalent in or unique to tropical and subtropical regions. The diseases are less prevalent in temperate climates, due in part to the occurrence of a cold season, which controls the insect population by f ...

s with the aim of protecting the health of the troops fighting in the

Middle Eastern The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europea ...

and African campaigns. Meanwhile, enough faculty remained at the school to continue its operations, although enrollment drastically fell during the war. The remaining faculty contributed to the war effort nonetheless by becoming increasingly involved in treating soldiers with

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...

, and other

s after their return from overseas. On the night of January 19, 1917, a

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

explosion from a nearby munition depot damaged the school and hospital, further complicating the school's operations. The school's wartime contributions were acknowledged on October 10, 1917, by a surprise visit from

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

and in 1918 by a visit from Queen Mary, Prince Edward, and Princess Mary. As a result of the war, the school expected an increase in the amount of patients with

s and so a resolution was proposed to move the school to

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

to improve upon the school's isolated location. Consequently, the school moved, together with the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, to

Endsleigh Gardens Endsleigh Gardens is a street in the Bloomsbury district of central London, in the London Borough of Camden. It runs south-west to north-east from Gordon Street to Woburn Place. The south-west end becomes Gower Place after the junction with Gordon ...

in central London, taking over a former hotel which had been used as a hospital for officers during the First World War. The building was officially opened by

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...

, then

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was ...

, on 11 November 1920. In 1921 the Athlone Committee recommended the creation of an institute of state medicine, which built on a proposal by the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropy, philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, aft ...

to develop a London-based institution that would lead the world in the promotion of public health and tropical medicine. This enlarged school, now named the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine was granted its

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...

in 1924. The school moved to the current building in 1929. The school remained at its location in London during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

despite the risk of bombings and an offer for accommodation by

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

. The number of students and staff fell as a result of the war, with some staff being called upon for

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job ( volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require ...

. After 1941 and continuing until the end of the war, regular instruction ceased and the school instead started providing short courses in tropical medicine to nurses and doctors of the Allied Forces. On 10 May 1941, a bomb struck the building and caused a fire which was only put out the following morning due to a lack of firemen. Only four people were present at the time and remained unharmed, however, around a sixth of the building was damaged, with particularly the side facing

Malet Street Malet Street is a street in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, Central London, England. It runs between Torrington Place and the British Museum, parallel to Gower Street and Tottenham Court Road. History The street is named after ...

sustaining extensive damage. Although the damage was only fully repaired seven years later, teaching of short courses resumed the Monday after the bombing.

Post-war period (1946–1960)

The healthcare environment changed in the wake of the war, both nationally and internationally, with the establishment of the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

and the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level o ...

. The

Chief Medical Officer Chief medical officer (CMO) is the title used in many countries for the senior government official designated head of medical services, sometimes at the national level. The post is held by a physician who serves to advise and lead a team of medical ...

and former Dean of LSHTM,

Sir Wilson Jameson ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...

, played a critical role in the establishment of both. LSHTM served a crucial role in reshaping scientific research and public health in the post-war period. Sir Austin Bradford Hill, a professor of Medical Statistics at the school, was the statistician on the Medical Research Council Streptomycin in Tuberculosis Trials Committee and their 1948 study evaluating the use of

streptomycin Streptomycin is an antibiotic medication used to treat a number of bacterial infections, including tuberculosis, ''Mycobacterium avium'' complex, endocarditis, brucellosis, ''Burkholderia'' infection, plague, tularemia, and rat bite fever. F ...

in treating

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, ...

, which is generally accepted as the first

randomized controlled trial A randomized controlled trial (or randomized control trial; RCT) is a form of scientific experiment used to control factors not under direct experimental control. Examples of RCTs are clinical trials that compare the effects of drugs, surgical t ...

to have been conducted. Two years later Bradford Hill and Sir Richard Doll, a member of the MRC Statistical Research Unit based at LSHTM, were the first to demonstrate the association between

cigarette smoking Tobacco smoking is the practice of burning tobacco and ingesting the resulting smoke. The smoke may be inhaled, as is done with cigarettes, or simply released from the mouth, as is generally done with pipes and cigars. The practice is believed ...

and

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, mali ...

. They also set up the well-known British Doctors Study to provide evidence for a

causal Causality (also referred to as causation, or cause and effect) is influence by which one event, process, state, or object (''a'' ''cause'') contributes to the production of another event, process, state, or object (an ''effect'') where the ca ...

relationship. In 1951, alumnus

Max Theiler Max Theiler (30 January 1899 – 11 August 1972) was a South African-American virologist and physician. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1951 for developing a vaccine against yellow fever in 1937, becoming the first ...

was awarded the

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, accordi ...

"for his discoveries concerning

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...

and how to combat it". George Macdonald, Professor of Tropical Hygiene and Director of the Ross Institute at LSHTM, was the first to propose the basic reproduction number (

R_0

) in his 1952 study of

, which remains a key statistic in the study of infectious diseases to this day. The following year, alumnus

Jerry Morris Jeremiah Noah Morris (6 May 1910 – 28 October 2009) was a Scottish epidemiologist who established the importance of physical activity in preventing cardiovascular disease. Early life Morris was born on 6 May 1910 in Liverpool. His Jewish famil ...

was the first to establish the role of

physical exercise Exercise is a body activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons, to aid growth and improve strength, develop muscles and the cardiovascular system, hone athletic s ...

in preventing

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, h ...

. Richard Doll established the connection between

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

and

in 1955, while two Readers at the school established the connection between

air pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different type ...

and

respiratory disease Respiratory diseases, or lung diseases, are pathological conditions affecting the organs and tissues that make gas exchange difficult in air-breathing animals. They include conditions of the respiratory tract including the trachea, bronchi, bro ...

s in 1958.

End of the 20th century (1961–1999)

The university went through various changes during the latter part of the 20th century. In 1962 it acquired its first electronic computer in a collaboration with

Birkbeck College , mottoeng = Advice comes over nightTranslation used by Birkbeck. , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £4.3 m (2014) , budget = £10 ...

, while a year later it built insectaries in its vault with financial support from the

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glaxo ...

. Due to the school's need for work with live insects, the insectaries were thought to have housed the largest mosquito farm in the world. In the meantime the school closed its library and expanded the Keppel Street building to increase research and teaching space. Once completed in 1967, the modernised parts were officially opened by Princess Alexandra. In the final years of the millennium, the school launched its first distance learning programmes to an initial enrollment of 149 students for the 1998/1999 cohort. The faculty of the school continued to make significant contributions to scientific research and public health. This included further work by

Austin Bradford Hill Sir Austin Bradford Hill (8 July 1897 – 18 April 1991) was an English epidemiologist and statistician, pioneered the randomised clinical trial and, together with Richard Doll, demonstrated the connection between cigarette smoking and lung ...

, who postulated the

Bradford Hill criteria The Bradford Hill criteria, otherwise known as Hill's criteria for causation, are a group of nine principles that can be useful in establishing epidemiologic evidence of a causal relationship between a presumed cause and an observed effect and have ...

in 1965 to determine causality. The criteria have since been widely used in public health research. LSHTM also started the long-running

Whitehall Study The Whitehall Studies investigated social determinants of health, specifically the cardiovascular disease prevalence and mortality rates among British civil servants. The initial prospective cohort study, the Whitehall I Study, examined over 17, ...

in 1967 which found significant social inequalities in health in the 18,000 participants from the UK Civil Service. The Black Report published in 1980, for which alumnus Jerry Morris was one of the contributors, found similar inequalities. In 1972, the first case of

lassa fever Lassa fever, also known as Lassa hemorrhagic fever (LHF), is a type of viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the Lassa virus. Many of those infected by the virus do not develop symptoms. When symptoms occur they typically include fever, weakness, ...

in the U.K. was diagnosed at the school. The school's faculty were also involved in research projects to advance understanding and prevention of various infectious diseases around this time, such as the Karongo Prevention Study in

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northe ...

. Professors at the university developed the

sisterhood method The Sisterhood Method is a household survey to estimate maternal deaths recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Although maternal deaths are a major problem in developing countries, high quality data are rare. Yet, numbers are needed ...

in 1989, thereby increasing the accuracy of

maternal mortality Maternal death or maternal mortality is defined in slightly different ways by several different health organizations. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines maternal death as the death of a pregnant mother due to complications related to pre ...

data from low-income countries and developing a method which is still recommended by the

WHO Who or WHO may refer to: * Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun * Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism * World Health Organization Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book '' Horton He ...

to this day. The

National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles The National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal) are a series of surveys of people in the Great Britain regarding their sexual behaviour and patterns, and are among the largest scientific studies of sexual behaviours in the world. Th ...

was launched by the school in 1990 and is still being run with partners at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

Modern era (2000–present)

The school went through various expansions in 2004, 2009, 2010, 2017, and 2018 to accommodate the school's rapid growth. The expansion in 2010 was the first time the university expanded outside of its Keppel Street location to Tavistock Place. The new location was originally intended as a joint project with UCL, however, the project was eventually amended and scaled down when UCL pulled out of the project. Tavistock Place was further expanded in 2017 with an additional research facility. Moreover, the

MRC MRC may refer to Government * Medical Research Council (United Kingdom) * Medical Reserve Corps, a US network of volunteer organizations * Municipalité régionale de comté (regional county municipality), Quebec, Canada * Military Revolutionar ...

Unit The Gambia and the

Uganda Research Unit officially joined the university in 2018. These transfers were part of the MRC's long-term programme of transferring Units into a host University in order to bring strategic benefits to both parties. In 2004, Professor Liam Smeeth was unable to find any association between the MMR vaccine and autism, thereby providing proof against the fraudulent Lancet MMR autism paper by

Andrew Wakefield Andrew Jeremy Wakefield (born September 3, 1956) is a British anti-vaccine activist, former physician, and discredited academic who was struck off the medical register for his involvement in ''The Lancet'' MMR autism fraud, a 1998 study that ...

. In subsequent years, Professor Joy Lawn led various studies and publications on neonatal deaths, including the 2011 and 2016

The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823. The journal publishes original research articles ...

Stillbirth Series. In 2016, various LSHTM researchers contributed to the understanding of the

2015–16 Zika virus epidemic An epidemic of Zika fever, caused by Zika virus, began in Brazil and affected other countries in the Americas from April 2015 to November 2016. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the end of the epidemic in November 2016, but noted t ...

. A year later, alumnus

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus ( ti, ቴዎድሮስ አድሓኖም ገብረኢየሱስ, sometimes spelt ti, ቴድሮስ ኣድሓኖም ገብረየሱስ, label=none; born 3 March 1965) is an Ethiopian public health official, researcher, and ...

became the

Director-General of the World Health Organization The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) is the chief executive officer of WHO and the principal advisor to the United Nations on matters pertaining global health. The director general is elected by and answers to the World He ...

. An independent review published in 2021 concluded there is evidence of structural racism at LSHTM. The findings included that staff of color are less likely to be promoted, more likely to be on short-term contracts, and that leadership has been too slow to act on issues of colonialism and racism. The school's Director apologised to those who have been affected and stated the school is committed to address the issues. The school's Council commissioned the review in the wake of the

2020 Black Lives Matter protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internati ...

Response to the 2014 Ebola epidemic

When the

declared that the

Western African Ebola virus epidemic The 2013–2016 epidemic of Ebola virus disease, centered in West Africa, Western Africa, was the most widespread List of Ebola outbreaks, outbreak of the disease in history. It caused major loss of life and Socioeconomics, socioeconomic disr ...

was a public health emergency of international concern in August 2014, LSHTM coordinated various response efforts. More than 500 academic and professional services staff volunteered to respond, with many volunteers deployed via

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

Public Health England Public Health England (PHE) was an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care in England which began operating on 1 April 2013 to protect and improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. Its formation came as ...

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF; pronounced ), also known as Doctors Without Borders, is a humanitarian medical non-governmental organisation (NGO) or charity of French origin known for its projects in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases. ...

and the WHO. LSHTM continued to pay the salary of anyone who volunteered to work on Ebola care and control in

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast� ...

and

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

, or backfill posts in WHO offices. Staff and students carried out mathematical modelling and other research to support Ebola response planning. Experts, including LSHTM faculty, established an Ebola Response Anthropology Platform to help health workers develop culturally sensitive interventions and developed free online education programmes to combat the spread of the disease. Researchers, including researchers from LSHTM, carried out accelerated clinical trials in the field, including the EBOVAC Ebola vaccine trials which is still ongoing. LSHTM was part of an independent panel advising on major reforms targeted at prevention of future global outbreaks and now runs the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team in partnership with Public Health England, funded by the UK Government. Former LSHTM Director

Peter Piot Sir Peter Karel, Baron Piot, (born 17 February 1949) is a Belgian-British microbiologist known for his research into Ebola and AIDS. After helping discover the Ebola virus in 1976 and leading efforts to contain the first-ever recorded Ebola epi ...

was named among ‘the Ebola fighters’ as

Time Person of the Year Person of the Year (called Man of the Year or Woman of the Year until 1999) is an annual issue of the United States news magazine and website ''Time'' featuring a person, a group, an idea, or an object that "for better or for worse ... has ...

and LSHTM itself also won various awards for its response.

Campus

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street

The school moved to its present location near the intersection of Gower Street and

Keppel Street Keppel Street is a street in the London Borough of Camden that runs from the junction of Store Street and Gower Street in the west to Malet Street in the east. Before the construction of Senate House, it continued on to join Russell Square. ...

in 1929. A competition to design a new school building to be sited in Gower Street, was held involving five architects, all experienced in

laboratory A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physi ...

design and construction. This was won in 1925 by Morley Horder and Verner Rees who located the main entrance in Keppel Street. The foundation stone was laid in 1926 by

Neville Chamberlain Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician of the Conservative Party who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. He is best known for his foreign policy of appeaseme ...

, then

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

, and the completed building was opened in 1929 by the Prince of Wales, later to become Edward VIII. The purchase of the site and the cost of a new building was made possible through a gift of $2m from the

. Although the building's façade has remained largely unchanged, the interior has gone through various renovations. The first renovation was completed in 1951 to restore bomb damage sustained during

, with the subsequent decades seeing further building work to add and redevelop floors. In 2004 a new seven-storey building within the school's north courtyard was opened by

Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbish ...

, while the

Princess Royal Princess Royal is a style customarily (but not automatically) awarded by a British monarch to their eldest daughter. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal family. There have been se ...

opened a new five-storey building in the south of the courtyard in 2009. The school also has a secondary site on Tavistock Place to the east since 2010.

Organisation and administration

Governance

The school's sole governing body under its

is the council. It has sole management control and supervision of the institution, though it delegates some of its functions to its committees and some operational powers to the Director of the school. The Council meets four times a year and has a diverse membership, with various independent members as well as elected staff members and a membership for the Director of the school. The current chair is Don Robert, who is also the Chairman of the

London Stock Exchange Group London Stock Exchange Group plc (LSEG) is a United Kingdom-based stock exchange and financial information company headquartered in the City of London, England. It owns the London Stock Exchange (on which it is also listed), Refinitiv, LSEG T ...

. The school is an

exempt charity An exempt charity is an institution established in England and Wales for charitable purposes which is exempt from registration with, and oversight by, the Charity Commission for England and Wales. Exempt charities are largely institutions of furth ...

and as such is regulated by the

Office for Students The Office for Students (OfS) is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Education, acting as the regulator and competition authority for the higher education sector in England. In February 2021, James Wharton, Baron Wharton of Yarm ...

Faculties

Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health

The Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health aims to develop and use its research expertise ranging from clinical trials, statistical analysis, genetic epidemiology, large-scale observational studies and field trials through to the design and evaluation of clinical and public health interventions in low, middle and high-income countries. It has around 300 academic staff and 150 research students who work in more than 20 countries on topics ranging from infectious to chronic diseases. It runs various master's degree programmes and short courses, while LSHTM's Clinical Trials Unit is also run under this faculty.

Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases

The Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases (ITD) was formed in August 1997 and encompasses all of the laboratory-based research in the school as well as that on the clinical and epidemiological aspects of infectious and tropical diseases. The Faculty is organised into three large departments and has over 500 members of staff. The range of disciplines represented in the faculty is very broad and inter-disciplinary research is a feature of much of its activity. The spectrum of diseases studied is wide and there are major research groups working on topics which include: *HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases *malaria and other vector borne diseases *tuberculosis *vaccine development and evaluation *vector biology and disease control There is close interaction between scientists in different research teams. The Faculty has overseas links which provide a basis for field studies and international collaborations in developed and developing countries. Funding for research in the Faculty comes from around 45 funding organisations and agencies.

Faculty of Public Health and Policy

The Faculty of Public Health and Policy aims to improve global health through research, teaching and the provision of advice in the areas of health policy, health systems and services, and individual, social and environmental influences on health. Interests and activities embrace the health needs of people living in countries at all levels of development. The school has the largest numbers of research active staff in the areas of epidemiology, public health and health services research in the UK. The Faculty of Public Health and Policy has over 250 members of staff, including epidemiologists, public health physicians, economists, policy analysts, anthropologists, sociologists, historians, psychologists, statisticians and mathematicians. The Faculty's research programmes, with an annual spend of over £7m, focus on public health problems of importance both globally and in the UK, and build on an extensive network of collaborations. The research programmes exploit multidisciplinary and multi-method approaches, generate new knowledge for specific contexts and test transferability to different settings, and engage with policymakers and providers of health care to ensure research is relevant and translated into practice. The Faculty hosts School Centres in the areas of History in Public Health, Research on Drugs and Health Behaviours, Spatial Analysis in Public Health, Global Change and Health, Health of Societies in Transition (ECOHOST), and Gender Violence and Health. In addition, staff participate in Centres based in other departments, notably the Malaria Centre and the Centre for the Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Disease.

Logo

The seal of LSHTM is based on a coin from the archeological site Selinus, Sicily struck in 466 BC. It was designed by the sculptor and medallist Allan Gairdner Wyon. It shows two Greek gods associated with health –

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

, the god of prophecy, music and medicine, and his sister

Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified with ...

, goddess of hunting and chastity, and comforter of women in childbirth – in a horse-drawn chariot. Artemis is driving while her brother the great archer is shooting arrows. The fruitful date palm was added to indicate the tropical activities of the school but also has a close connection with Apollo and Artemis: when their mother

Leto In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Leto (; grc-gre, Λητώ , ''Lētṓ'', or , ''Lātṓ'' in Doric Greek) is a goddess and the mother of Apollo, the god of music, and Artemis, the goddess of the hunt.Hesiod, ''Theogony'404–409/ref> ...

gave birth to them on the island of

Delos The island of Delos (; el, Δήλος ; Attic: , Doric: ), near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. The excavations in the island ar ...

, miraculously a palm sprang up to give her shade in childbirth.

Asclepius Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Greek religion and mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis, or Arsinoe, or of Apollo alone. Asclepius represen ...

, Apollo's son, was the god of ancient

Greek medicine Ancient Greek medicine was a compilation of theories and practices that were constantly expanding through new ideologies and trials. Many components were considered in ancient Greek medicine, intertwining the spiritual with the physical. Specif ...

, and was frequently shown holding a staff entwined with a snake. Snakes were used in this healing cult to lick the affected part of the patient. Significantly Asclepius' daughters were

Hygeia Hygieia is a goddess from Greek, as well as Roman, mythology (also referred to as: Hygiea or Hygeia; ; grc, Ὑγιεία or , la, Hygēa or ). Hygieia is a goddess of health ( el, ὑγίεια – ''hugieia''), cleanliness and hygiene. Her ...

(the goddess of health) and

Panacea In Greek mythology, Panacea (Greek ''Πανάκεια'', Panakeia), a goddess of universal remedy, was the daughter of Asclepius and Epione. Panacea and her four sisters each performed a facet of Apollo's art: * Panacea (the goddess of univers ...

(the healer of all ailments). Asclepius' staff with a snake coiled round it (known as a symbol of the medical professions) was placed at the base of the seal to emphasise the medical interests of the school. The seal was redesigned in 1990 by Russell Sewell Design Associates, and is retained today within the current LSHTM logo.

Academic profile

Admissions

Admissions data from LSHTM can be obtained through

Freedom of Information Freedom of information is freedom of a person or people to publish and consume information. Access to information is the ability for an individual to seek, receive and impart information effectively. This sometimes includes "scientific, indigen ...

requests. The school's admissions are competitive, with an offer rate of 60.3% and a yield of 40.1% in 2020/2021. The rates vary by program, with the most recent year showing the MSc Medical Statistics having the lowest offer rate at 49.2% and MSc Control of Infectious Diseases having the highest yield at 55.1%.

Research

With over £180 million in research funding per year, the school engages in a multitude of research activities in over 100 countries. It is home to four World Health Organization Collaborating Centres and participates in many research groups and projects around the world. The school is currently home to the following research centres: * Antimicrobial Resistance Centre * Centre for Epidemic Preparedness and Response (CEPR) * Centre for Evaluation * Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching * Centre for Global Chronic Conditions * Centre for Global Mental Health * Centre for History in Public Health * Centre for Maternal Adolescent Reproductive & Child Health (MARCH) * Centre for Statistical Methodology * Centre for the Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases (CMMID) * Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health * Global Health Economics Centre * Health in Humanitarian Crises Centre * Malaria Centre * TB Centre * The Applied Genomics Centre * Vaccine Centre LSHTM submitted a total of 314 staff across 2 units of assessment to the 2014

Research Excellence Framework The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a research impact evaluation of British higher education institutions. It is the successor to the Research Assessment Exercise and it was first used in 2014 to assess the period 2008–2013. REF is under ...

(REF) assessment. In the REF results 42% of the school's submitted research was classified as world-leading (4*), 37% as internationally excellent (3*), 20% as internationally recognised (2*) and 1% as nationally recognised (1*), giving an overall GPA of 3.20. In rankings produced by

Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The Thes''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

based upon the REF results LSHTM was ranked 10th overall for GPA and 46th on research power (which is based on publication volume). In the 2008 exercise, LSHTM ranked 3rd overall for GPA and 59th on research power.

Degrees

All three Faculties offer a wide range of MSc courses and Research Degrees leading to a University of London degree of DrPH, MPhil and PhD. The school also offers a Joint PhD Programme for Global Health in partnership with Nagasaki University. Courses are delivered both face-to-face in London and via distance learning in collaboration with the University of London International Programmes. The school also offers access to both free and paid short courses, as well as three Professional Diplomas and an executive programme. Currently, the university does not offer any undergraduate degrees and is therefore one of the few postgraduate-only institutions around the world.

Rankings

Due to the absence of undergraduate degrees, LSHTM is not included in the overall university rankings of QS and Times Higher Education, although some subject-specific rankings are available. In the 2021 ARWU Ranking for the subject of Public Health, LSHTM ranked 3rd globally behind only

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

and

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

. For the 2022 US News Best Global Universities Rankings, LSHTM ranked 2nd in Public, Environmental and Occupational Health, 4th in Infectious Diseases, and 14th in the world for Social Sciences and Public Health. The school also ranked 48th in the world for clinical medicine and 76th for cardiovascular systems, 25th for immunology and 48th for microbiology, contributing to an overall ranking of 130th in the world, 49th in Europe and 13th in the UK. In the 2015 CWTS Leiden Ranking, the LSHTM ranked as the top university in Europe for research impact in all fields, ahead of Oxford and Cambridge. The school was also ranked 6th overall in the world for impact based on the top 1% of published papers in all fields, after MIT, Harvard, Caltech, Stanford and Berkeley, 3rd in the world for biomedical and health sciences, after only MIT and Caltech, and 5th in the world overall for collaborative research. By 2021 the school ranked 27th.

Awards

The LSHTM won the 2009 Gates Award for Global Health established by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and received $1 million in prize money. The award recognises organisations that have made an outstanding contribution to improving global health. In 2016, LSHTM won the University of the Year award from

for its response to the

Ebola epidemic This list of Ebola outbreaks records the known occurrences of Ebola virus disease, a highly infectious and acutely lethal viral disease that has afflicted humans and animals primarily in equatorial Africa. The pathogens responsible for the di ...

in West Africa in 2014 and 2015. It won the

Queen's Anniversary Prize The Queen's Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education are a biennially awarded series of prizes awarded to universities and colleges in the further and higher education sectors within the United Kingdom. Uniquely it forms part of the Bri ...

in 2017 for the same reason and won another Queen's Anniversary Prize in 2021 for its work on

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

and pandemic preparedness.

Donald Reid Medal

The

Donald Reid Medal The Donald Reid Medal is awarded triennially by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in recognition of distinguished contributions to epidemiology. Institution The medal was instituted in 1979 in memory of Professor Donald Reid who w ...

is awarded triennially by the LSHTM in recognition of distinguished contributions to

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 evi ...

.London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, ''Report on the Work of the School 1977–1978'', page 21, 1978, (London:London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) George Macdonald Medal The

George Macdonald Medal The George Macdonald Medal is awarded jointly between Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine "to recognise outstanding contributions to tropical hygiene". The award was established in ...

is awarded triennially together with

Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, more commonly known by its acronym RSTMH, was founded in 1907 by Sir James Cantlie and George Carmichael Low. Sir Patrick Manson, the Society's first President (1907–1909), was recognised as "t ...

to recognise outstanding contributions to tropical hygiene.

Affiliations and partnerships

LSHTM's international profile has led to extensive collaboration with institutions around the world, including in many low- and middle-income countries. From 2014 to 2018, 78% of its publications had been written with an international partner and 65% were written with collaborators over 5,000 kilometers removed from London. International collaborators were most often based in Europe, North America, or Africa. The school is also a member of various global health networks. The school has various official partner institutions including Nagasaki University,

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in th ...

, Public Health Foundation of India,

Sichuan University Sichuan University (SCU) is a national key public research university in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. The university is wholly funded by the Ministry of Education. SCU is one of the top universities of China, and a Class A Double First Class Univer ...

Fiocruz The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation ( Portuguese ''Fundação Oswaldo Cruz'', also known as FIOCRUZ) is a scientific institution for research and development in biological sciences located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; it is considered one of the world's m ...

Universidade de Sao Paulo The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin,

KU Leuven KU Leuven (or Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. It conducts teaching, research, and services in computer science, engineering, natural sciences, theology, humanities, medicine, ...

, and various African research institutes. LSHTM also jointly runs the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team with

and closely collaborates with various U.K. universities like the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, and

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

. Moreover, it offers a Professional Diploma in Tropical Medicine & Hygiene through a collaboration with

Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College (KCMUCo) is a constituent college of Tumaini University Makumira in Moshi, Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a ...

Makerere University Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of n ...

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seatt ...

, and

. It also offers joint master's programmes in Health Policy, Planning and Financing with the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 milli ...

, Global Mental Health with

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, and One Health as well as Veterinary Epidemiology with the

Royal Veterinary College , mottoeng = Confront disease at onset , established = (became a constituent part of University of London in 1949) , endowment = £10.5 million (2021) , budget = £106.0 million (20 ...

. The LSHTM also has partnerships with corporate entities. These include

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...

GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc, formerly GlaxoSmithKline plc, is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London, England. Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. GSK is the tent ...

Reckitt Reckitt Benckiser Group plc, trading as Reckitt, is a British multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Slough, England. It is a producer of health, hygiene and nutrition products. The company was formed in March 1999 by the mer ...

, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Notable people

Notable alumni

File:Mukhisa Kituyi, Houlin Zhao, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus with Sophia - AI for Good Global Summit 2018 (41223188035) (cropped).jpg, Tedros Adhanom,

File:Austin Bradford Hill.jpg,

, pioneering epidemiologist and statistician File:Carissa Etienne 2015.jpg, Carissa F. Etienne, Director of the Pan American Health Organization File:Josep Figueras.jpg, Josep Figueras, founding director and Head of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies File:Janet Hemingway 2014.jpg, Janet Hemingway, former director of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine File:Harry Hoogstraal.jpg, Harry Hoogstraal, renowned Entomology, entomologist and Parasitology, parasitologist File:J Donald Millar.jpg, J. Donald Millar, former director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health File:Matshidiso Rebecca Moeti.jpg, Matshidiso Moeti, Regional Director of the

Regional Office for Africa File:Max Price.JPG, Max Price, former Chancellor (education), vice-chancellor and principal (university), principal of the University of Cape Town File:2019 Pamela Rendi-Wagner (32995117698) (cropped).jpg, Pamela Rendi-Wagner, Chairperson of the Social Democratic Party of Austria, Chairwoman of the Social Democratic Party of Austria File:Max Theiler nobel.jpg,

, winner of the 1951

File:S960 - Chris Whitty - Chief Scientific Adviser (cropped).png, Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer for England

References

External links

*
LSHTM Research Online
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine entry
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine student lists

{{DEFAULTSORT:London School Of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, University of London Schools of public health Educational institutions established in 1899 1899 establishments in England Art Deco architecture in London Tropical medicine organizations Universities UK Medical schools in London