Centre of excellence in Public Health Research. (360G-Wellcome-087637_Z_08_Z)

Tackling the complex and inter-related root causes of public health problems requires systems approaches which recognize that the whole is often greater than the sum of the parts. More dynamic and effective relationships are needed between public health scientists, policy makers, practitioners and local communities, and a move away from an outdated linear model of passive knowledge transfer to one that recognizes that knowledge is both explicit and tacit, and generated by multiple stakeholders. Thus, the Queen's University Belfast (QUB) and the Institute of Public (Health in Ireland (IPH), in partnership with the Regional Health and Social Care Authority and the Community Development and Health Network, intend to establish a CoE for Public Health Science Research as part of a networked cluster of Centres across the country that will strengthen capacity for research and practice to improve the health of the UK population. The Centre will foster a multidisciplinary approach to research and training and the translation of research into policy and public health practice. The priority will be to use the unique opportunities that exist in Northern Ireland, with its distinctive approach to integrated health and social services and well connected civic and public sector structures, to research the social and biological causes of chronic disease and the main causes of inequalities in health experienced in the UK.