Welcome to the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, part of the Institute of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow.

Our aim is to conduct high quality research that has a real impact on health and wellbeing, and on reducing health inequalities. We have a particular focus on developing and using cutting-edge methods to understand how social, economic and environmental factors influence health, and on working with decision makers, practitioners and the public to identify interventions and policies that can have an effective and sustained impact on health and wellbeing, particularly among those most in need.

2018 will mark twenty years since the successful merger of the Medical Research Council's Medical Sociology Unit and the Chief Scientist Office’s Public Health Research Unit into what we are now, building upon a foundation of pioneering research stemming back to 1955.

Our staff and students have joined us from all over the world and come from a range of social and public health science disciplines including statistics, mathematics, epidemiology, public health medicine, nursing, natural sciences, human sciences, nutrition, sociology, anthropology, economics, psychology, geography, and history. We have a proud track record of developing the careers of our staff, many of whom have gone on to become leaders in the field. We are passionate in maintaining the highest standards of equality, diversity and flexibility in all that we do.

This website explains the detailed research being undertaken by our six programmes and you can keep up to date with our activities by following us on Twitter @theSPHSU.

Professor Laurence Moore, Director of the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit.

Read our information leaflet about the Unit.

‌The University of Glasgow is committed to promoting equality of opportunity in all its activities and aims to provide a work, learning, research and teaching environment free from discrimination and unfair treatment. Procedures for advancement, promotion and progression are intended to be fair, transparent and consistent with the university's Equal Opportunities Policies.  The Institute of Health and Wellbeing's commitment to equal opportunities has been recognised by our receiving an Athena SWAN Gold Award in 2018.