Summary of the report
Committing to an equitable future
At the Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development, 2024 was a year of reinforcing our commitment to delivering valuable, impactful, and cross-disciplinary scientific research to achieve equal health opportunities for all.
Our people
AIGHD operationalizes its mission through its people: comprised of researchers across multiple disciplines, our professional project management staff, lean operational teams, and executive management team.
Our Fellows network
In 2024, our Fellows cohort expanded to 160 in total, with a strong focus on supporting early-career researchers and preparing the next generation of global health leaders
Our professional staff
Our nine project managers and operations team helped steer the work towards an equitable future in global health.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
We continued implementing our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion policy adopted in March 2023 to ensure AIGHD reflects our values.
Our scientific work
We work across disciplines, fields, and cultures to ensure that the knowledge we produce is impactful and of high quality. In 2024, we adopted three new thematic areas, which we are confident will define the global health sector for the upcoming decade
1) Climate & health
AIGHD now bridges the gap between climate and health by bringing new perspectives to climate research. Our first major foray into the field, the SPRINGS project, aims to understand the complex relationship between waterborne diarrhoeal disease and climate change.
2) Non-communicable diseases
According to the World Health Organization, non-communicable diseases represented 75% of non-pandemic-related deaths globally at last count (2021), with the global burden of disease unevenly distributed among low- and middle-income countries.
3) Digital health
The world is more connected than ever, but public health is not fully utilizing its potential. We want to change that by developing more nuanced and accessible digital health systems that enable public health practitioners to respond to outbreaks using more accurate data and information.
Education & advocacy
As a research institution, we help build communities of learning across all stages of research from the bachelor's level to postdoctoral research, empowering the next generation of educators and scientists to work towards tangible impact.
Shaping Dutch & EU global health strategy
We contributed to national and regional global health strategies through the Dutch Global Health Hub and the European Global Health Research Institutes Network (EGHRIN).
Global health education
In 2024, our "Global Health in Context: Sri Lanka" programme, hosted in partnership with the University of Ruhuna, provided another group of bachelor of medicine students with new insights about their place as medical practitioners in global health.
Communities & partnerships
AIGHD has spent many years establishing and developing relationships with relevant stakeholders and practitioners. The INTEREST Conference and the Joep Lange Chair and Fellows Symposium reflect our capacity to influence global health through our network.