Protected: Turning lived experience into innovation: How Tamara Tortosa is building Qalyup
Category: Education
“From the first session, you feel like you made the right decision”: The importance of wellbeing in digital teaching
This blog was written by IGHI Teaching Fellow, Julien le Jeune d’Allegeershecque. It features reflections on wellbeing, belonging and flexibility in online learning from Julien and Dunya Al‑Hayali, a MSc Health Policy student.
More and more students are opting for online postgraduate taught (PGT) programmes. It allows people from diverse cultural, linguistic and professional backgrounds to balance study with work and caring commitments. Although flexible and convenient, the online environment doesn’t have in-person contact and it can present unfamiliar institutional norms. This can affect students’ confidence, engagement and academic outcomes.
In a recent presentation for Imperial’s Students’ Voice initiative, chaired by Monica Tolocica from the Imperial Institute of Lifelong Learning, Dunya and I explored the challenges of online education. Dunya shared insights from her experience as a MSc Health Policy student. The online master’s programme is delivered by the Institute of Global Health Innovation.
Leadership, Learning and Digital Innovation: Meet the New Digital Health Leadership Programme Cohort
Earlier this month, more than 60 students from the latest cohort of the Digital Health Leadership Programme (DHLP) came together in York to mark the beginning of their learning journey.
Over two days, students had the opportunity to connect with their peers, meet the academic team, and gain an understanding of what to expect from the year ahead. The forum included sessions from experts on leadership styles and reflective learning, the CliftonStrengths assessment, and time working within newly formed peer support groups. A highlight of the event was an immersive induction game, where students worked in teams to solve a series of puzzles as part of a simulated crisis in the NHS referral system. (more…)
Rising Faster Than the Sea Levels: Building Youth Resilience in the Philippines
In the Philippines, where typhoons and extreme heat are intensifying, young people are not only witnessing the climate crisis, but they are also living it. The research project Rising Faster Than the Sea Levels is working to understand and support the mental health and wellbeing of Filipino youth as they navigate the climate crisis.
The study is an example of co-developed research done with researchers including Dr John Aruta from De La Salle University, researchers at the Climate Cares Centre and codesigned by the Young Person Advisory Group (YPAG). Sophia Pahulayan, a recent graduate of Dr Aruta’s, is a project facilitator who helped to manage the project and cofacilitate the group discussions alongside young people, a vital linking point between the young cohort and the researchers. This was especially true due to Sophia’s previous research, passion for climate change work, and her ability to speak the local Bisaya dialect in a country with hundreds of dialects and local languages.
Sophia Pahulayana talks about connecting to young people for Rising Faster than the Sea Levels
Involving young people in research
Sophia recruited young people in the area to join the committee which was part of the decision-making process for the research materials and group discussion conversations. This helped to make the project more relevant to the experiences of young people when conducting semi-structured group discussions. This project helped to create spaces where young people can share their experiences of climate change and feel less alone. What makes this more natural free-flowing approach powerful and inclusive is its emphasis on solidarity and active listening. Sophia noted about the young people involved that: “they realised that they’re also basically the same. They may express it differently, but the core of the problem is the same.” The project tailors its methods to local contexts, using dialect and culturally resonant questions to foster trust and connection.
Connecting the climate crisis to our feelings
Sophia explained that the initial prompts were focused on big topics and concepts around climate change and mental health before YPAG realised that the better approach would be to focus on how local changes affected them and those they cared about. While young people may not always have the precise language for climate anxiety, they are deeply aware of how the climate has changed in their lifetimes. “They notice it has gotten different from when they were younger,” Sophia said, “they could still play outside during the summer, but now it’s not the same”. She also highlighted how they wanted the young people to make that connection between the climate crisis they’re seeing to the emotional struggles and the general anxiety they have when talking about the future.
Sophia Pahulayana talks about how Mental Health doesn’t exist in Filipino languages
Validation and Empowerment
For the young people, the project provides a space for validation and empowerment. As Sophia explains, their conversations are deeply intertwined with politics, as they are acutely aware of how government policy and corruption intensify climate catastrophes. They discuss painful memories like the mishandled billions in relief funds after Typhoon Yolanda which severely impacted their developmental years. The typhoon left survivors in their communities without adequate food, housing, or jobs and the corruption after made recovery even harder for the community. To finally voice these frustrations in a supportive environment is profoundly empowering. It transforms a sense of isolated helplessness into a shared realisation: “I’m not the only one thinking this way. I’m not the only one being concerned about this.” This awakening fosters a powerful sense of solidarity, making them feel less alone and more emboldened to empathise and get involved with climate action with their peers, a link which has been highlighted in a study published in Educational and Developmental Psychologist. The study says that “Filipinos who face a greater risk from climate consequences engage in actions that mitigate the climate crisis and prepare for future disasters.”
For Sophia personally, she describes the project as a source of hope and purpose. It allows her to connect with young people on a profound level, facilitating not just discussions but the birth of actionable ideas. Asked what she finds most rewarding about the project, Sophia explained that it is hearing participants say the sessions have given them hope and taught them things they never learned in school.
Time for action
However, this hope is coupled with a driving urgency: “it gives me hope, but at the same time it makes me feel like there’s so much more that we could do”. While processing this emotional weight is crucial, Sophia is eager to take the project to the next level: moving from conversation to concrete action. The goal is to harness this newfound solidarity and sense of agency to help these passionate young people channel their feelings into tangible change within their communities, transforming hope into a resilient force for the future.
The plan is to host spaces like the group discussions where young people and researchers alike can combine the therapeutic benefits whilst also allowing connections with their peers. Young people already working to address the climate crisis need to be provided with a space to collaborate and bring their ideas to life. However, the space also needs to be one where young people can unpack what’s happened to them and deal with the trauma that was ever present when discussing climate disasters like Typhoon Yolanda. Spaces similar to climate cafes can be healthy places to decompress and provide emotional support to young people looking to act against future climate events in their community. Sophia does emphasise that whatever is created must be “tailored to our needs, to the needs of our community and our context.”
Now that the project team has completed the group discussions, they are working on designing interventions. On the 24 September they will be going to Cebu city in the Visayas region of the Philippines to present the preliminary results of the project. This should hopefully open the project to wider connections in the climate action space in the Philippines as a lot of the work takes place in the capital of Manila and few if any of the organisations in this climate crisis hotspot focus on mental health. The project has also just won $30,000 to expand their research in collaboration with John Aruta and Renzo Guinto and Duke University.
Sophia Pahulayana final takeaways from the Rising Faster than the Sea Level project
Rising Faster than the Sea Levels is a project led by Climate Cares Centre funded by AXA Global Research Fund
Further Reading:
Ten years after Haiyan: Building back better in the Philippines
2013 State of the Climate: Record-breaking Super Typhoon Haiyan
The Need for Mental Health Support for Environmental Defenders in the Philippines
Veronica’s Lived Experience story – Mental health impacts of climate change – Philippines
An agenda for climate change and mental health in the Philippines
Climate change and mental health in the Philippines Special Paper
Co-investigators: Dr Emma Lawrance, Dr John Jamir Benzon Aruta, Dr Ans Vercammen, Prof Fiona Charlson, Dr Chloe Watfern, Teaghan Hogg, Dr Sandeep Maharaj, Sophia Pahulayan, D, Georgia Monaghan, Court Kovac, Dr Daniella Watson
Affiliations: Imperial College London, UK; De La Salle University, Philippines; Curtin University, Australia; The University of Queensland, Australia; University of New South Wales, Australia; University of Canberra, Australia; The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Ecomind, Australia
Digital Health Leadership Programme Q&A with Jake Marshall
The Digital Health Leadership Programme is delivered by Imperial College London’s Institute of Global Health Innovation, in collaboration with a wide network of partnerships including Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Jake Marshall is a MSc student of the Digital Health Leadership Programme and completed the PG Diploma with Cohort 6 in 2023-24. He shares his experience of the programme and his career to date.
What’s your academic background? What did you study for your undergraduate degree or other degrees?
Jake Marshall (JM): I graduated with a BSc in Economics and Management from King’s College London (King’s Business School) in 2019, driven by an interest in analysing business challenges through the multidisciplinary lenses of analytics, leadership and technology. In my final year, I chose to take a module in Health Economics, which sparked my interest in how the economic rules of demand and supply could be transposed to health – one of the most critical sectors that affects us all. Some might say this marked the beginning of my journey toward a career in healthcare!
I’m especially proud to have completed this degree as a first-generation student coming from an area with historically low access rates to higher education. Support from my first employer and charities like the Helena Kennedy Foundation played a crucial role in helping me get there, showing me what could be possible in the face of adversity and underrepresentation.
What about your career?
JM: I began my career on a consulting graduate scheme at EY, where I worked on rotational projects with international clients across the healthcare and life sciences sectors. My focus was on digital value propositions and go-to-market strategy. I then moved into the NHS where I managed portfolio strategy for NHS England’s Transformation Directorate. In this role, I developed and influenced strategic plans for digital, data and technology across the NHS, including designing the vision for England’s previous national strategy for digital health and care with over 1,300 stakeholders.
Currently, I serve as Head of Life Sciences and Public Sector Partnerships for the Data for Research and Development Programme at NHS England. I lead stakeholder engagement and business development activity for the NHS Research Secure Data Environment Network. This is a large data infrastructure initiative across England aiming to make health-related data more accessible, secure and trusted for research. You can read more about our work in my latest blog.
Cybersecurity Bootcamp for digital leaders
In a rapidly evolving landscape, digital leaders in the NHS need the knowledge and practical skills to respond to new threats and opportunities for the healthcare sector, supporting them to lead their organisations with the latest developments in generative AI, Cybersecurity and other pressing issues.
The Education team at IGHI has developed a new series of highly interactive, seminar-style residential bootcamps to support digital leaders, offering a carefully curated programme of expert panels, Imperial academic keynotes, real-life simulations and practical workshops to enable immediate implementation of their learning into their organisations.
On 3 and 4 April, we hosted our first Cybersecurity Bootcamp in partnership with IBM. We had a variety of job roles from across the NHS represented: Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs), Chief Information Officers (CIOs), and Chief Clinical Information Officers (CCIOs). The aim of the course? To offer an opportunity for digital leaders to practice and learn: ask the right questions, avoid playing catch-up and prepare for the next wave of threats.
The academic lead for the bootcamp was Dr Saira Ghafur, who worked with the education team to bring in experts, design the 2-day agenda and weave together the various sessions, panels and keynotes. Alex Barclay, Head of Education for the Helix Centre, designed and delivered the practical workshops on the second day, allowing participants to get into the weeds and start working on cyber strategies fit to take back into their organisations.
The programme saw the following highlights:
- An IBM X-Force Simulation, generously adapted by a team of experts specifically for this NHS audience.
- Imperial’s Professor Chris Hankin’s opening keynote, showing us through the lens of his research and recent geopolitical history why healthcare is an attractive target for cyber criminals, how to reduce probability and impact and work on our collective resilience.
- A panel of experts: Dr Ayesha Rahim, Phil Huggins and Dr Saif Abed sharing their insights on cyber risks & impact with honesty, real-life impact on staff and patients and great energy.
- Digital Health Leadership alumni and technical practitioner Gary McAllister delivered a case study “Insider Perspective on Major Attack”. It was hugely impactful to hear first-hand what actually happens on the ground when your organisation is under attack.
See what people said online:
- From Participants: LinkedIn
- From IBM: LinkedIn, Polly Bishop on LinkedIn
- From Saif Abed on LinkedIn about Day 1 and Day 2
Celebrating Women at IGHI: Driving Meaningful Change in Global Health
On International Women’s Day, we shine a spotlight on the incredible women at the Institute of Global Health Innovation (IGHI) who are shaping the future of healthcare worldwide. From pioneering research to innovative policy work, these leaders are tackling some of the most pressing global health challenges —making a real difference in in the UK and beyond.
In this blog, we celebrate their achievements and highlight how their expertise and dedication continue to inspire change. Read on to learn about some of these fantastic women at the IGHI and discover key examples of their work.
Professor Bryony Dean Franklin – Visiting Professor at IGHI
Professor Bryony Dean Franklin is visiting Professor in the Department of Surgery and Cancer at the Centre for Prevention and Management at Imperial College. She is Director of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) North West London Patient Safety Research Collaboration (NWL PSRC), leading research in medication patient safety and the safe use of technology.
Professor Franklin is widely recognised as a research leader within patient safety, both nationally and internationally. She has specific expertise in evaluating technologies that aim to reduce medication errors in both primary and secondary care. She led a recent revision of the World Health Organization’s Medication Safety Curriculum Guide and has recently contributed to collaborative research and quality improvement studies in Brazil, India and Finland. As Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal BMJ Quality and Safety she seeks to support and encourage others in publishing high-quality research and opinions that seek to improve patient care the world over.
Jennifer Bennett – Senior Postgraduate Administrator
Jennifer Bennett is a Senior Postgraduate Administrator for the PG Dip and MSc Digital Health Leadership (DHL) Programmes. She is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the programmes, supporting the students from recruitment to award and all the processes in between, working closely with faculty and teaching fellows to make sure the students get the best academic and pastoral support.
Jenny gained a new perspective on the student experience last year when she completed a L3 Team Leader qualification (CMI). She particularly enjoyed learning about leadership and communication models and evaluating how she could apply them to her work. This echoes the workplace assessments which the PG Dip students are doing, applying theory to practice. The PG students on the DHL programmes are all balancing work, study and personal or family commitments and Jenny has even greater empathy for students with looming deadlines! She is pleased to have achieved a Distinction. One of the projects she reflected on was the 2024 refurbishment of the office environment of 1070 at QEQM which has become a more inviting space for collaboration with colleagues.
Recently Jenny has introduced some processes to streamline the administration of benchmarking assessments and bulk uploading feedback to the VLE. She is also looking forward to contributing on further working parties to identify Imperial’s new VLE.
Melanie Leis – Director of Policy and Analysis
Melanie Leis is the Director of Policy and Analysis of the Centre for Health Policy, part of the IGHI. She leads the Centre’s development of analytics tools and policy outputs to support global decision-makers in fields such as patient safety, digital health and mental health.
Melanie leads our partnership with WHO’s Global Patient Safety Collaborative, which provides an opportunity to develop global and country-specific patient safety leadership support and resources. She also leads our collaboration with the charity Mental Health Innovations to deliver policy reports that highlight the key role that digital mental health services play in supporting the UK population. One of the projects she is most proud of is the collaboration with the charity Patient Safety Watch, through which IGHI produces reports on the national and global state of patient safety. The annual launch events of the reports bring together national and global patient safety leaders, including patients. These reports and events ensure that patient safety is at the top of system leaders’ agendas.
Jodie Chan – Public Involvement Officer, Helix Centre
Jodie Chan is a Public Involvement Officer at the IGHI’s Helix Centre, working on projects around safely involving women experiencing homelessness in research, understanding the mental health experiences and support needs of 10- to 13-year-olds, and analysing the impact of long waiting times on patients and the health system.
Jodie works across IGHI to support the meaningful involvement of patients, carers, and public members in research. Within her work, she has a strong focus on deepening and diversifying IGHI’s relationships with its local community and is passionate about supporting community-led research.
She is particularly proud of the relationships she has built with women at the Marylebone Project, a local women’s homelessness service, and of their ongoing work to make research safer and more psychologically informed.
Jessica Shields – Impact Officer, Helix Centre
Jessica Shields is an Impact Officer at the IGHI’s Helix Centre, working across the Centre to keep it running smoothly. Jess works on everything from supporting the scaling up of Helix projects and looking for funding opportunities to communications and coordinating Helix events. Jess also co-chairs the IGHI Wellbeing Working group, heading iniatives to improve workplace wellbeing at IGHI.
Jess is proud to support the Helix team to bring design to healthcare and being involved in the Wellbeing Working Group at IGHI. A particular highlight has been bringing the Helix team together over games and food for the Christmas All-Staff meeting and supporting team members to find funding for projects they’re passionate about.
Dr Jang Ah Kim – Lecturer at the Hamlyn Centre
Dr Jang Ah Kim is a Lecturer at the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery, Department of Mechanical Engineering. She is interested in researching multidisciplinary approaches to understanding and controlling the interactions between materials and their surrounding environments at the micro/nanoscale. By leveraging this knowledge, she aims to develop innovative and highly precise, minimally invasive strategies for biomedical sensing and robotics, addressing challenges unique to these scales.
The mini lab (micro-nano innovation lab) that Dr Kim leads is built on the belief that big breakthroughs start small. The lab focuses on micro and nano-scale engineering, exploring how light and other physical stimuli interact with materials to push the frontiers of biomedical sensing, soft robotics, and healthcare technologies. The name mini lab itself reflects this vision—written in lowercase to symbolise its commitment to micro/nano-scale research and precision-driven, minimally invasive healthcare solutions, where even the smallest changes can lead to transformative impact. Through this work, Dr Kim and her team strive to bridge fundamental science with real-world applications, advancing the next generation of biomedical engineering solutions.
Although newly established in September 2023, the mini lab has already embarked on exciting foundational research in manipulating micro/nanoparticles and bacterial swarms using light, as well as engineering shape-changing microrobots. These efforts aim to lay the groundwork for novel applications in personalised medicine, such as targeted drug delivery, cellular-level surgery, and local immunotherapy. In the long run, these highly targeted and efficient biomedical solutions could also contribute to addressing broader clinical challenges, including optimising therapeutic strategies and reducing unnecessary antibiotic use, ultimately supporting efforts to tackle antimicrobial resistance—all of which resonate with IGHI’s vision for advancing global healthcare innovation.
Dr Ana Cruz Ruiz — Project Manager, Hamlyn Centre
Dr Ana Cruz Ruiz is the Project Manager at the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery, where she coordinates centre-wide projects across various Technology Readiness Levels, ranging from basic research to medtech translation initiatives. In addition to this role, she leads the Hamlyn Centre’s Global Surgery working group, which focuses on how frontier technologies—such as AI, robotics, 3D printing, and the Internet of Things—can enhance surgical care in low- and middle-income countries.
One of her recent achievements includes organising the Global Surgery Forum at the Hamlyn Symposium 2024, where she co-moderated a panel with Dr Kee Park, Director of Policy & Advocacy at Harvard Medical School. The session, titled “Can Technology and Innovation Help Improve Health Equity?”, addressed the challenges faced by low- or middle-income countries in accessing safe, affordable surgical and anaesthesia care. The panel explored how technology is already helping to address some of these barriers, while also emphasising the need for further collaboration with the engineering community to create scalable solutions.
Ana is passionate about improving health equity in Honduras and in Latin America. Recently, she travelled there to meet with local surgeons, learn about regional needs, and explore ways to collaborate on making surgical care more accessible. She also contributes as a member of the Advisory Council for Honduras’ 2026 National Human Development Report, organised by the United Nations Development Programme.
Georgia Butterworth – Senior Strategy Advisor to Lord Darzi
Georgia Butterworth is a Senior Strategy Advisor to Lord Darzi, supporting the delivery of his wide-ranging portfolio across academic, policy and parliamentary priorities. In this role, she provides strategic advice and coordination across a diverse range of projects, from the Fleming Initiative to the NHS Independent Investigation. Her work is dynamic and varied, often requiring close collaboration with colleagues across the IGHI to ensure alignment across its centres.One of the best things about my role is seeing the great achievements of the different centres in the IGHI and thinking about how we bring it all together for greatest impact. I find it really exciting to contribute to shaping the future of health and care through the IGHI, and inspiring to work alongside many exceptional women in this field.
Jessica Newberry Le Vay – Climate Change and Health Policy Fellow
Jessica Newberry Le Vay is a Climate Change and Health Policy Fellow in the Climate Cares Centre, working on the interconnections between climate change and mental health. Jess recently worked on the Connecting Climate Minds Global Research and Action Agenda, bringing together the perspectives of 960 experts across 100 countries to set out global priorities for climate change and mental health research and a vision for implementing and translating that research to action. Jess was also recently part of developing the People’s Petition, a global collective climate justice call submitted to the International Court of Justice in December 2024 that amplifies the testimonies of 18 witnesses from communities experiencing and responding to the worst impacts of the climate crisis, including impacts to physical and mental health.
Jess currently leads The Compass Project: Guiding minds and inspiring action through climate change education, working with young people and educators in schools and universities to ensure climate change education can equip and support young people with the resilience, knowledge, skills and agency to take climate action and live in an uncertain future.
Dr Emma Lawrance – Climate Cares Centre Lead
Dr Emma Lawrance is the Climate Cares Centre Lead and Mental Health Lead at the IGHI. Emma also leads the Wellcome-funded global initiative Connecting Climate Minds, which has involved over 1000 people across 100 countries to date. She holds an AXA Climate and Health Fellowship to more deeply understand the experiences of young people in the climate crisis in different cultures, what this means for their mental health and wellbeing, and to co-design and evaluate support that can build agency and resilience.
Emma is a recognised global leader in the emerging climate and mental health field, building awareness and capacity across sectors and countries to acknowledge and act for a climate of health and wellbeing. She is an author of key research and policy papers on the topic, including: the first global policy brief; leading reviews of the field as a whole, relevant interventions, and temperature and mental health; studies with young people in the UK, Caribbean and the US (under review), and the Global Research and Action Agenda for climate change and mental health. She has presented globally, for instance at the World Economic Forum, four UNFCCC COP conferences, the World Congress of Psychiatry, OECD and the European Commission and been featured in international media, including Die Zeit, Guardian, Al Jazeera, Sky News, BBC, Forbes, Reuters and others.
She believes in the power of community, and in connecting people and ideas to foster resilience to thrive in a changing world and to create a safer climate for our mental health.
Dr Laura-Maria Horga – Communications and Events Officer
Dr Laura-Maria Horga is a Health Communications and Events Officer at IGHI. She delivers communications and engagement projects across IGHI’s seven research centres of excellence, supporting the Institute’s mission to tackle global health challenges.
Laura has contributed to key projects, including the National State of Patient Safety Report 2024, which gained prominent media coverage for highlighting critical maternity care issues; the Mental Health Innovations Report, which explores digital solutions to meet growing mental health needs (Shout service); the Great Exhibition Road Festival; the Julia Anderson Training Programme; Connecting Climate Minds; the Digital Health Leadership Programme; and many others.
She is currently leading the organisation of IGHI’s annual in-person event, Demo Day, which helps staff learn more about the different workstreams at IGHI, connect with colleagues, foster collaborations, and celebrate the Institute’s achievements.
Laura is also a certified Mental Health First Aider at Imperial College London.
Dr Ivet Angelova – Research Associate
Dr Ivet Angelova has recently joined the MedTechOne programme at Imperial College London as a MedTech Specialist. Her journey into healthtech began with a PhD in Chemical Engineering, where she focused on developing genetically encoded biosensors for monitoring Botulinum Neurotoxins—a project that deepened her passion for turning scientific discovery into practical healthcare solutions.
Shaping the future of healthcare means not only driving research and innovation but also ensuring it reaches those who need it most. As part of MedTechOne, Ivet is currently working towards building a knowledge base that equips early career researchers (ECRs) with the tools to translate medtech discoveries into real-world impact. This resource is shaped by the needs and feedback of researchers across IGHI, the Hamlyn Centre and the wider Imperial community. Covering everything from regulations and quality standards to commercialisation and team building, this resource is designed to help bridge the gap between research and commercialisation. Additionally, she is co-leading the launch of the MedTech ECR Network at Imperial, creating a space for emerging medtech leaders to connect, collaborate, and thrive.
Ivet said “This International Women’s Day is a chance to celebrate the women driving healthcare forward, breaking barriers, and shaping a future where innovation is inclusive, impactful, and accessible to all. I am grateful to be part of a community filled with inspiring women whose work and determination continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in medtech and beyond.”
Cohort 7 Trainees – Julia Anderson (JA) Training Programme
Caitlin Murphy is as a JA Behavioural Science Trainee in the Fleming Initiative team. She is working in a patient / public facing project focusing on the use of antibiotics and encouraging individuals to finish a course of antibiotics if prescribed.
Arlette Albert is another JA Behavioural Science Trainee in the Fleming Initiative team. She is working part-time alongside Caitlin to develop her skills in qualitative research, behavioural science, patient engagement, and co-designing interventions.
Miranda Watson joined as the JA Trainee in Digital Health. She is working in the Patient Safety team to develop her skills in translating evidence into measurable interventions to improve patient safety in virtual care. She is involved in reviewing the literature, extracting data, and critically appraising available literature to identify safety indicators relevant to virtual consultations.
Harm Reduction in Nightlife
A recent study, published in the Harm Reduction Journal, explores the role of nightclubs and sex-on-premises venues in harm reduction for gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) who use drugs.
These venues act as intermediaries between national drug policy and individual behaviour, bridging the gap between broad regulations and on-the-ground realities. Our findings suggest that night-time venues remain an under-utilised resource in harm reduction efforts, with the potential to play a greater role in promoting safer drug use practices.
The research, by Health Policy MSc student Stephen Naulls with MSc Dissertations lead Kenny Oniti and colleagues, used a mixed-methods approach. The researchers spoke with healthcare professionals, people who use drugs in nightlife settings, and those working in the night-time economy. Many described a de facto decriminalisation – where drug use is an open secret – but highlighted the risks venues face if they engage with harm reduction. While many owners and staff recognise the need for safer drug use practices, concerns over licensing regulations and financial repercussions often prevent them from taking action.
Despite this, nightlife spaces are well-positioned to reach individuals who may not engage with traditional health services. However, current policies often deter venues from taking a proactive approach, limiting their ability to provide harm reduction measures such as drug safety information or support services. A more balanced regulatory framework could help unlock the potential of these spaces to support public health efforts without jeopardising their economic viability.
Find out more about the Master’s in Health Policy at Imperial College London.
Wellbeing Walk for IGHI Postgraduate Students
On Saturday the 19 October IGHI Health Policy and Digital Health Leadership students and staff enjoyed a day out in Hyde Park and South Kensington, for the IGHI Education Wellbeing Walk.
A group of 18 staff, students, families and partners were treated to a fantastic walk and historical narrative by Teaching Fellow and SWIPE co-founder Joe Kerr. Joe was a fantastic narrator, engaging the group on the history of Imperial and other great institutions dedicated to art and science, that together established Abertopolis over 170 years ago. It was a fascinating, light-hearted time, including a 90 min talk in the park, and concluding with lunch at the nearby Queen’s Arms pub.
We asked Suchita Joshi, current MSc Health Policy student, to share her thoughts about the event:
Health Policy MSc: Insights from a Second-Year Student
The Health Policy MSc at Imperial College London is led by the Institute of Global Health Innovation.
Jazz Walker, a Year 2 Health Policy Master’s student and Biological Capabilities Policy Advisor at the UK Health Security Agency, attended our recent in-person student workshop and shares her experience of the MSc programme.
Why did you apply for the Health Policy MSc programme?
Jazz: I applied for the programme mostly for career progression reasons. I’d gone through education—originally, I did an English degree—and then I got into health policy.
One aspect that drew me to it is that, particularly in the policy world, you don’t often gain experience outside of your job’s specific focus. It’s really difficult, especially in busy areas, to get opportunities to branch into other fields.
Personally, I found the finance and economics section quite interesting. Due to the way my career has progressed, I’ve always kind of avoided working on those areas. But this programme provided a nice, non-pressured way to learn about those elements of the job without needing to seek permissions for work shadowing. My organisation is keen to promote learning and development, but I personally haven’t found their traditional pathways very effective for learning this type of information.
I found the Health Policy MSc programme more helpful because it requires you to work on a problem statement, rather than just absorbing theory that’s delivered to you, with no practical application. It provides a way to demonstrate how you’d approach and apply these examples in real situations. Those are the key things I value: gaining skill sets I can’t acquire in my job. It’s been very interesting, and I’m pleased to be able to work with people from diverse backgrounds on the course.
How is the programme going so far? What did you enjoy the most or found most impactful?
Jazz: I think it’s going really well so far. I particularly enjoyed last year’s module on Health and Society, as it connected to my work at the time, which was related to threat relevance. Having an entire module focused on various threats helped me better understand the organisation I was working in. This was especially useful because my employer is funding my studies to help me bring broader awareness to other areas I might work in.
Gaining these learnings and insights pushed me to apply more of them in my work. This has enabled me to present stronger ideas by incorporating those considerations and working through them, and has strengthened my relationships with analysts in that area. I can now demonstrate that I’m using the same assessment criteria they would use, saying things like, ‘I evaluated this’ or ‘I’d recommend approaching it this way’ or ‘This is how I’d like to see the results—does that align with the right approach?’ Having their agreement has further helped build these connections.
How do you think this programme will further help you in building your career?
Jazz: I think simply being recognised for doing the Master’s has already been really helpful for my work. It’s helped me connect with industry and academia, showing them that there’s genuine dedication behind what I’m doing. In an environment where people often jump between fields, having a solid foundation in the subject area is really valuable.
Pushing myself to think critically and write papers in a more traditional, academic style has also been useful. I had definitely fallen out of practice with writing academic papers, so it’s been great to get back into that process and focus on building a stronger evidence base. Rather than just relying on the specialised technicians in my organisation, I’m doing self-directed research again. This has been particularly helpful in areas I’m working on, as it’s taught me how to evaluate sources more critically. It’s not just about thinking, ‘Well, it’s in an academic journal, so it must be true,’ but about noticing potential biases that might affect credibility.
I think this stronger evidence base, along with the ability to perform desk research and self-reflection, will be incredibly useful for my future career.
Have you experienced any challenges so far? And if so, how has the academic team supported you?
Jazz: The academic team has been very helpful throughout the course. Particularly at the start, when I was working on two tasks simultaneously in my job, being able to reach out and express that things were challenging gave me the reassurance I needed to manage things through. They explained the possibility of getting a short extension, or if I needed a longer one, they could guide on providing evidence of what I was working on. Their support has been invaluable!
I found the drop-in sessions especially useful, knowing I could jump in and ask, ‘I have one question; my mind can’t quite get where I’m going with it. Am I thinking about it right?’ Getting confirmation and advice on where I might need to push further or focus more on that track was really helpful.
The way the lessons are structured is also refreshing compared to other universities I’ve attended. They truly listen, and you can see that reflected in how the course has evolved.
For example, I appreciated having the opportunity to reflect through the course’s reflective learning journals in my first year; however, I found it challenging to keep up with them due to time constraints. What’s great is that the academic team listened to our feedback, acknowledging the timing pressures, and made adjustments accordingly in our second year. Unlike other academic settings where you’re simply told to ‘just do it,’ it’s nice to be in a place where they listen and adapt the course as it progresses.
What advice would you give to new applicants?
Jazz: I think it’s important to consider your timings. Planning ahead on how you’ll approach each part of the course can make the assessments less challenging. If you tackle the work gradually, following along with the unit organically, it will make a difference. Personally, thinking about how I’ll apply what I’m learning to the assessments has been beneficial.
Also, remember to take time for yourself. It’s important to keep up with your reading, but too much pressure can be overwhelming. The required and optional readings are already outlined for you, so focus on those, and spend extra time on topics that interest you or could enhance your essays.
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