Open to a world of possibilities
Our work focuses on improving livelihoods around the world - exploring complex relationships between human, animal and environmental health, and the economic and social factors that underpin these.
Our commitment to multidisciplinary working is seen through the work of our world leading Global Academies and research centres, including Edinburgh Infectious Diseases. Collaboration is key and the impact from our research influences global policy and contributes to saving lives.
We provide training to equip people with the skills needed to respond to emerging One Health issues through our degree programmes and short professional courses. We have long-standing expertise in online delivery to enable wide access to professional training regardless of your location.
Read our blog for more about our work in One Health.
World One Health Day 2023
- Video: One Health promo 2020
- An overview of the University's activities in One Health, including teaching, research and policy and engagement.
Our research is interdisciplinary and international and specifically targeted to address social and global challenges that will enable realisation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Scroll down to read more about our expertise.
We train people with the skills to respond to One Health issues through our degree programmes and professional courses. Many of our courses are offered online, making them accessible to students regardless of location. Scroll down for a list of programmes relevant to One Health.
We are proud of long-term and successful global One Health partnerships, including those in low- and middle- income countries across Africa and South East Asia. We are open to new opportunities to work with partners who share our vision. Scroll down to find out about our world-leading facilities.
Why Edinburgh?
We're ranked 15th in the world1
We’re ranked 4th in the UK for research power2
We have a network of more than 200,000 graduates across the globe
We’re ranked in the top 25 in the world for graduate employability3
We have over 400 live partnerships with institutions in more than 65 countries
Our expertise
We are uniquely placed to make significant advances in One Health, thanks to our world-leading medical and veterinary schools and our expertise in environmental science and other life and social sciences.
Key links:
World class facilities
We offer unique facilities and resources for our researchers. External organisations can also benefit from these:
- The Large Animal Research and Imaging Facility offers specialist facilities for in-depth studies of all major farmed livestock and large animal models of human diseases.
- The National Avian Research Facility provides a national resource for the study of avian biology, genetics, infection and disease.
- Edinburgh Genomics offers access to the latest genomic sequencing technologies and bioinformatics expertise to support a large and diverse portfolio of scientific research projects from academia and industry.
Antimicrobial resistance
Addressing the global crisis in antimicrobial resistance is a key focus for our work. We study the epidemiology of AMR locally and globally, as well as the mechanisms in biology, evolution and physics that underpin drug resistance. Our work extends to understanding global governance and stewardship of antibiotics, and influencing policy worldwide. We work with the Fleming Fund Fellowship Scheme to build and strengthen capacity for a One Health approach to AMR surveillance.
Links to find out more:
Conservation and wildlife health
Understanding the complex relationships between animal, human and ecosytem health is vital for preserving the biodiversity of our planet. Our research takes a holistic and interdisciplinary approach, bringing together experts from health sciences, veterinary medicine, ecology and the social sciences.
Links to find out more:
Tackling infectious diseases
We tackle the challenges of infectious diseases from bioscience, clinical, veterinary and social science perspectives. We have particular expertise in diseases that spread from people to animals, known as zoonoses.
Links to find out more:
The Roslin Institute - Control of Infectious Diseases
Tackling Infections to Benefit Africa (TIBA) Partnership
EPIC Scotland - Centre of Expertise on Animal Disease Outbreaks
Covid-19
The University of Edinburgh's community, researchers and experts responded to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic on a local, national and global scale. Our experts provided evidence and advice to governments worldwide and are in high demand from policy makers. We helped to track the spread of the virus, lead clinical trials and investigated new therapies aimed at reducing the severity of disease.
Links to find out more about ongoing research:
Sustainable agriculture
We promote innovation – including new technologies – to deliver sustainable improvements in complex food-supply systems. Our aim is to drive a transformation towards resilient, healthy, fair and sustainable processes. Our collective strength is in applying systems thinking and data skills to investigate challenges and opportunities in agriculture, food and environmental security.
Links to find out more:
Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Security
The Roslin Institute - Genes and Traits for Healthy Animals
Genetics for the future
We study how healthy animals develop and how genetic factors influence the productivity, resilience, efficiency and environmental sustainability of livestock species. We use this knowledge to devise strategies aimed at improving animal performance for the benefit of society, the economy and the animals we rear for food.
Links to find out more:
The Roslin Institute - Genes and Traits for Healthy Animals
Healthy environment
We build interdisciplinary bridges to better understand and address global environmental challenges. We believe that by fostering excellence in our research and teaching, and by engaging with industry, government and communities we can create positive, practical solutions that make a real and sustainable difference.
Links to find out more:
Data driven innovation
We are applying data science to develop innovative and financially sustainable models of health and social care that improve lives. We are also generating and collating, in real time, a multitude of local and global data in areas such as veterinary activities, animal genetics, food species genetics, soil condition, weather and market drivers. We work with partners to use this information for the benefit of farmers worldwide but particularly in low and middle income countries.
Links to find out more:
Data-Driven Innovation initiative
Study with us
We aim to inspire lifelong education and training to equip people with the skills to tackle One Health issues through on-campus and online learning opportunities. Our approach focuses on experience, employability and an understanding of the value of creativity, curiosity, and even failure.
Discover your postgraduate or professional course
Hear from our students
- Video: Global and Public Health Video
- Global and Public Health landing page video featuring online students from the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine.
Learn what it's like to study global and public health-related subjects at the University of Edinburgh.
- Video: Food Production and Agriculture
- Food Production & Agriculture Cluster Landing page video.
Lean about our programmes in food production and agriculture-related subjects.
- Video: Global Health Academy Summer School
- Dr Ruth McQuillan, Programme Director for the University's online Master of Public Health, talks about the annual Global Health Academy One Health Summer School which takes place in Uganda or Rwanda.
Lean about our One Health Summer School, which takes place in Uganda or Rwanda each year.
- Video: VIDEO How does online learning work
- Learn more about how online learning works at the University of Edinburgh. https://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/online-learning/postgraduate
How does online learning work?
On-campus taught programmes
Online taught programmes
MSc Applied Conservation Genetics with Wildlife Forensics
MSc Biodiversity, Wildlife and Ecosystem Health
MSc Global Food Security and Nutrition
MSc Global Health and Infectious Diseases
MSc International Animal Health
MSc International Animal Welfare, Ethics and Law
Master of Public Health (MPH) (Part time)
On campus research programmes
PhD with integrated Study in One Health Models of Disease (funded by the Wellcome Trust)
PhD Hosts, Pathogens and Global Health (funded by the Wellcome Trust)
PhD programme opportunities in Infectious Diseases – across UoE
PhD Agriculture and Food Security