Edinburgh Impact

The future of health and care

Exploring the treatments, discoveries and approaches to care that will transform how look after the ill and vulnerable.

What are the next medical breakthroughs that will maximise wellbeing and protect the most vulnerable in society? The University is pioneering work in areas such as MND, dementia, nursing, reproductive health, regenerative medicine, medical informatics and many others, including the crucial interfaces between medicine, the sciences, social sciences and the arts.

Discover how Edinburgh's influence helps shape and inform the future of health and care.

AI finds drugs that could fight ageing

Stock image of woman pouring pills into her palm from a bottle
Drugs that could help stave off the effects of ageing and age-related diseases have been discovered using artificial intelligence (AI).

Tackling global suicide

Image shows a pesticide vendor reaching out to grab a bottle from a display within his shop.
As the World Health Organization (WHO) celebrates its 75th year, on World Health Day 2023, we explore how researchers at the University are working closely with the organisation to tackle one of the most common causes of global suicide.

Picky eater? It could be in your DNA

The largest genetic study of our food likes and dislikes sheds new light on people's diet choices.

Lighting the way

Transparent cells with nucleus, cell membrane and visible chromosomes
Pioneering work by researchers from the School of Biological Sciences reveals how invisible triggers orchestrate the earliest-known stages of a key life process, and may help offer clues to improving ways of treating diseases such as cancer.

Pioneering the science of hope

Baby asleep on a white pillow
Six years ago a revolutionary technique to restore fertility in women rendered infertile by cancer treatments brought the prospect of life into the darkest of times. Its success - decades in the making - is paving the way to even more breakthroughs.

Everyday cyborgs

A still from Dr Gill Haddow's film entitled Everyday Cyborgs
The development of implantable devices has been a game changer in the medical profession, giving many patients a new lease of life. However, receiving an implant can also alter a person’s sense of identity and have a lasting impact on their mental health. Social scientist Dr Gill Haddow’s research is empowering people living with these devices to accept their body modification and in turn improve their wellbeing.

Preventing death and disability caused by stroke

Hospital workers rush a patient through a corridor on a stretcher
Research by Edinburgh’s world-leading stroke experts, Joanna Wardlaw and Peter Sandercock, is helping more patients benefit from life-saving treatment.

Getting to the heart of air pollution

Vehicles and a cyclist in central Edinburgh
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that air pollution is responsible for more than seven million premature deaths globally a year. Edinburgh researchers investigating the effects of air pollutants on cardiovascular health are helping to shape air quality guidelines.

Safety in numbers

The pandemic brought a decade-old project out of hibernation, but now EAVE II’s success in using health data to fight Covid-19 could point to the future of combating other diseases.

The art of science

Lab life landscape
Innovative Edinburgh scientist Dr Elaine Emmerson gave a talented artist unlimited access to her head and neck cancer research, and the resulting illustrations capture the treatment development journey in an engaging and enlightening way.

SpeakUnique: a story of compassion, collaboration and creativity

SpeakUnique voice lab
University researchers have created a unique voice banking, voice building and voice repairing service, that's allowing patients to retain or reclaim their own individual voice.

Making liver transplants history

Chronic liver disease is on the rise, killing thousands in the UK alone. A new spin-out company aims to reverse the tide by enlisting a hard-working marvel of human biology.