Led by Dr. Michele Barry and Allison Phillips of Stanford Global Health, the Action Lab for Human and Planetary HeAlth (ALPHA) is an evidence-to-action initiative that stimulates change in an emerging area of research central to sustainability: global human and planetary health. Funded by the Sustainability Initiative born out of Stanford’s Long-Range Planning Process, ALPHA supports Stanford researchers with translating their findings in to impact, specifically through changes in policy and practice in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs).

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.

The Program for Disease Ecology, Health, and the Environment focuses on finding sustainable environmental interventions, or “ecological solutions,” for a range of diseases. It brings together scientists and stakeholders from Stanford and outside the university in a joint initiative combining forces from two preeminent Stanford centers: the Woods Institute for the Environment and the Center for Innovation in Global Health.

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.

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.