Global Health Research Portfolio

Since 2006, the UIC School of Public Health (SPH) Global Health Program has been committed to promoting health and well-being and reducing suffering worldwide. We lead the way in developing and testing interventions and programs to investigate causes of disease, improve health and deliver acceptable, feasible and affordable services. Underlying our efforts, we prioritize equity, compassion and idealism, as reflected in the SPH values statement. We are committed to understanding the influence of environmental, economic and political determinants on the health of populations globally and demonstrating a vision and philosophy of professional practice that addresses health equities and human rights worldwide.

  • 65 Countries in which our researchers are collaborating.

  • 75 Average number of yearly research publications.

  • $15 MM Annual federal, corporate, foundation and private funding for global health research.

Our areas of expertise

A mural shows strategies for preventing HIV transmission.
Infectious diseases
Our research is making gains in HIV prevention, interventions for sexually transmitted diseases and injection drug use among migrant workers.
SPH student Colin Hendrickson holds up two vials of water samples at a water purification station in Kenya.
Water quality and health
We're identifying health challenges from polluted drinking water and studying sustainable water purification technologies in Africa and Asia.
A boy crouches next to drying tobacco plants in Malawi.
Tobacco use
Our tobacco cessation efforts acknowledge the need to provide tobacco farmers with viable economic alternatives.
Coal miners walk together following a work shift.
Environmental and occupational health
SPH is a global leader in addressing the effects of black lung disease and environmental contaminants that impact workers in low-income nations.
UIC School of Public Health students completing summer fieldwork in Cuba pose together for a photo.
Bidirectional partnerships
SPH faculty and students are collaborating with public health partners in nations worldwide to build local interventions to health challenges.
Children play in a rural street in Bangladesh
Global health seed fund projects
Our newest projects focus on novel methods for transporting and analyzing water samples, children's nutrition, HIV and COVID-19 and HIV interventions for people with low literacy.

Incubating new global health projects

Vulnerable infant hospital feeding in Peru
Jessica Rothstein
Vulnerable infant hospital feeding in Peru
Extending water purification to Nepal
Samuel Dorevitch
Extending water purification to Nepal
Occupational health of artists and artisans in Cuba
David Hinkamp
Occupational health of artists and artisans in Cuba