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Human and Planetary Health

The health of the planet and the health of human communities are inextricably linked.

What is human and planetary health? Without a healthy biosphere there is no thriving human future. This emerging field of applied research, policy and practice represents an intentional and catalytic effort to take on one of the greatest challenges the world has faced. It seeks to characterize the impact on our health of human-caused disruptions of Earth’s natural systems, taking a solutions-oriented approach, bridging different disciplines and sectors, and learning from successes and failures.

Interdisciplinary collaboration

The challenges to global health demand new ways of working. To solve complex problems and overcome structural and economic barriers to well-being, we create interdisciplinary collaborations across campus and partnerships with people and organizations all over the world.

Research

To stimulate and support the most innovative approaches to solving global health challenges, we provide seed grants for early stage research and host a research convening to connect scientists with opportunities to pursue their research in  Africa, Asia, South America, North America and Europe.

Engaging the community

We introduce leaders from international organizations to students, faculty and researchers for quarterly conversations in Global Health. With the Bay Area Global Health Alliance, we bring together organizations across sectors to harness the region’s culture of innovation, research, discovery and delivery.

Programs

Post-doctoral Fellowship in Human and Planetary Health

Stanford and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine are offering a unique postdoctoral Fellowship opportunity. The 2-year Fellowship will focus on human and planetary health, defined as “the health of human civilization and the state of the natural systems on which it depends”, as an area in urgent need of investigation.

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Stanford Existential Risks Initiative (SERI)

The Existential Risks Initiative is a collaboration between Stanford faculty and students dedicated to mitigating global catastrophic risks. Created by Stanford Global Health’s Director of Research Steve Luby and Professor Paul Edwards, the goal is to foster engagement from students and professors to produce meaningful work aiming to preserve the future of humanity by providing skill, knowledge development, networking, and professional pathways for Stanford community members interested in pursuing Global Catastrophic Risk reduction. SERI is hosted by the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

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Stanford hosts the 2019 Planetary Health Alliance Conference

Human and Planetary health is about ensuring that Earth is a healthy home for humanity. It is a movement to improve our stewardship of the planet, so that our legacy is an environment that improves human health rather than harming it.

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