Amsterdam Institute for Global Health & Development (AIGHD)

At this joint institute of the Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam (UvA), and Vrije Universiteit (VU), experts across multiple disciplines work together on health and wellbeing. This includes areas such as climate change, digital health, inclusive healthcare, and infectious diseases.

From clinical doctors to behavioural scientists to international law experts, AIGHD gathers bright and innovative perspectives to address the most important challenges in global health and development. Through collaborative interdisciplinarity research, robust scientific approaches, and imparting knowledge to the next generation of global health experts, the institute is building a world where there are equal opportunities for health for all.

Partners from all over the world

Ever since Joep Lange founded the institute in 2009, AIGHD has collaborated with various faculties and international partners to generate further knowledge and influence policy. Constance Schultsz, clinical microbiologist, professor of Global Health at Amsterdam UMC, and Scientific Director of AIGHD, explains: “At AIGHD, we're working together equitably with our partners from all over the world to improve global health and access to healthcare.

Fruitful PhD projects

AIGHD has three main objectives which contribute to its vision: research on global health challenges, education of researchers, and influencing policies based on scientific insights. As an example, Schultsz cites their continued collaboration with Makerere University in Uganda, which began in 2009. Since then, there has been a constant flow of PhD projects, especially on key topics such as HIV and tuberculosis.  Nurturing these PhD students has borne fruit, as those former PhD students are now in leading positions and shaping healthcare and academia across Africa.

Collaboration with the hub

The world is changing and so is the global health field. AIGHD wants to ensure it responds and acts pro-actively to these changes. Schultsz is enthusiastic about the possibilities of the Global Health Hub, “We can meet one another to advocate for global health as a policy and research priority in the Netherlands and support the Dutch Government in this. Besides that, AIGHD is also one of the founders of the public-private partnership AMR-Global. In this collaboration, we work together with public and private organizations like academic hospitals, KNCV and TNO, together with start-ups in the field of antibiotic resistance. We worked together with several hub partners on this subject, even before the Global Health Hub existed.”

At last year's high-level meeting on antimicrobial resistance, which took place during the annual UN General Assembly (UNGA), antibiotic resistance was labeled as a priority. “Afterwards, we organized a Global Health Hub meeting to formulate advice for the Netherlands towards implementation of the recommendations that came out of the high-level meeting," says Schultsz. This example shows the important role the hub can play in advising policy.

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