About the Institute
The Heidelberg Institute of Global Health (HIGH) founded in 1962 is one of the institutes at the Faculty of Medicine at Heidelberg University, Germany’s oldest University. In over 60 years of its existence, the institute has contributed to the various paradigm shifts in tropical medicine to public health. It receives public core funding, however over half of the funds are competitively acquired for both research and teaching activities.
Through its research and teaching, the institute aims to contribute to improving the health of vulnerable populations worldwide especially in low- and middle-income countries and train the next generation of global health researchers and practitioners. To achieve this, we attach great importance to linking our activities in two ways: we want to make sure that our staff manages, teaches or evaluates development projects in the health sector of low- and middle-income countries, and participates in research so that their insight and experience from different activities are enhancing each other.
Scientists at the institute try to find new ways of improving the health of the world’s poorest and those most affected by disease, for instance in South Africa, Burkina Faso and Bangladesh. Their focus is on investigating the effects of mass treatments – such as in HIV therapy or the fight against malaria – and on researching healthcare systems in Africa and Asia.
The institute was founded in 1962 and currently has more than 200 members (2021).
