Ground broken at White City for new School of Public Health

The College marked the breaking of ground at Imperial’s White City Campus, the site for the new School of Public Health building, with a virtual event on Wednesday 21 April.

This is a landmark moment in Imperial’s £100 million campaign for the School of Public Health, which has raised more than £57 million to date.

The new multidisciplinary building will provide collaborative, flexible, and interactive spaces for academics, collaborators, students and the local community. Set in Imperial’s thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem at White City, the building will house state-of-the-art facilities and to support modern advances in genomics, data sciences, community engagement, incubators, educational facilities and clinical trials.

World leading research

At the event, Imperial’s President Professor Alice Gast was joined by Professor Deborah Ashby, Director of the School of Public Health, and Professor Neil Alford, Associate Provost (Academic Planning) to give attendees a first look at the site, an insight into the new building, and to hear about the transformative research that will take place inside.

Speaking at the event, Professor Gast said: “I want to thank our friends and generous supporters for your confidence in us. Together we are making a difference in the world. Our campaign has been tremendously so far, but there is much more to do.”

“Our premier School of Public Health is an integral part of one of the most collaborative, multidisciplinary, innovative universities in the world. It’s new home in the White City campus will amplifying our collaborations, innovation and our teaching and research across disciplines.”

“We will bring what we learn from global health into our community and learn from our community to be more effective globally.”

Professor Gast also chaired a panel featuring some of the College’s foremost public health experts, including:

• Professor Neil Ferguson, Director of the Jameel Institute and author of some of the most influential reports on controlling the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK
• Professor Mireille Toledano, Director of the Mohn Centre for Children’s Health and Wellbeing, and leader of the largest study in the world investigating the influence of wireless technology on children’s mental health and development
• Professor Frank Kelly, Battcock Chair in Community Health and Policy, the UK’s leading air pollution scientist
• Professor Robyn Norton, Chair of Global Health and co-founder and Principal Director of The George Institute for Global Health

Driving advances in research

Imperial is one of the world’s leading institutions for public health research, driving advances in health policy and the prevention and treatment of disease on a local, national and global scale. Imperial’s School of Public Health experts have been at the forefront of the global fight against COVID-19.

The Campaign for the School of Public Health, one of the most ambitious in the College’s history, is amplifying work across four key areas: World Health, Life-Long Health, Community Health and Policy, and Children’s Health and Wellbeing

The campaign has attracted the support of leading philanthropists. A landmark donation of £25 million from Marit Mohn has established the Mohn Centre for Children’s Health and Wellbeing, where researchers will tackle the health threats affecting children in London, the UK, and beyond. A gift of £2.5 million from Humphrey Battcock enabled Imperial to appoint Professor Frank Kelly as the inaugural Battcock Chair in Community Health and Policy and to form Europe’s largest cluster for research into air pollution and health. In partnership with Community Jameel, Imperial established the Abdul Latif Jameel Institute for Disease and Emergency Analytics in 2019 which unites expertise in data analytics and epidemiology, to improve understanding of diseases and health emergencies – including the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The new School of Public Health Building is designed by Allies and Morrison, who also designed the neighbouring Sir Michael Uren Hub which completed in 2019. The nine-storey School of Public Health building will provide nearly 58,000 sq ft of space, fitted out by Graham Construction.