Featured Blogs
Seeds of change: Reflections on the Decolonising Global Health blog series
10 Dec, 2025
We've reached the final chapter of our twelve-part journey through decolonising global health. This instalment brings together contributions from several of our series participants – colleagues who have challenged assumptions, shared hard truths and opened new pathways forward. As we reflect on where we've been and revisit key themes from across the series, we also turn our gaze towards the future and the ongoing work of shifting power, transforming practice and reframing how we see global health itself.
Who gets through the digital front door? Rethinking access in an increasingly digital NHS
As digital access, triage and AI become embedded in the NHS, who benefits – and who risks being left behind? Following the Westminster Health Forum conference 'Next steps for technology, data and innovation in the NHS', Sara Shaw explores what equitable digital access means for patients, staff and the future of NHS care.
In praise of pulses – and plant-based meats.
This World Food Day (16 October), Emma Garnett reflects on how we can build healthier, more sustainable food systems – and celebrates the mighty pulse!
Meet the Department’s Spärck AI Scholars: Bringing new perspectives to AI and healthcare
16 hours and 57 minutes ago
Meet Oxford's Spärck AI Scholars Emma Greally, Mridula Shan and Nhu Lam in this Q&A blog, as they share their journeys into artificial intelligence and healthcare, the impact of their scholarships and their ambitions for improving healthcare through innovation.
On adult ADHD: It’s more than sometimes misplacing our phones
For ADHD Awareness Month, Klaudia Budniak shares her personal experience of receiving an ADHD diagnosis as an adult, the importance of peer support and self-acceptance, and how we can create a more inclusive workplace for neurodivergent colleagues.
Beyond the evidence: what an afternoon picking aqpik taught me about research
13 Oct, 2026
In this blog, MSc in Global Healthcare Leadership student Michelle Kwok (Cohort 4) reflects on Module 4 of the programme on Evidence-Based Health Care (EBHC) and her experience delivering allergy care in northern Québec. She shares how an afternoon of picking aqpik berries, combined with her learnings from the EBHC module, sparked a new perspective on community-based research.
The importance of healthcare innovation: Reflections from MSc in Global Healthcare Leadership students - Learning and Living
In the next blog from our Healthcare Innovation module series, we hear from Maria Miracle who shares her thoughts and insights from the MSc in Global Healthcare Leadership (MGHL) programme. In this series, 5 current students from the MGHL programme reflect on how they have translated their learnings from Module 5 into practical solutions addressing real-world healthcare challenges.
Who gets through the digital front door? Rethinking access in an increasingly digital NHS
As digital access, triage and AI become embedded in the NHS, who benefits – and who risks being left behind? Following the Westminster Health Forum conference 'Next steps for technology, data and innovation in the NHS', Sara Shaw explores what equitable digital access means for patients, staff and the future of NHS care.
England crucially needs a dementia action plan: what carers want policymakers to know
England urgently needs a renewed national dementia action plan. Drawing on European strategies and carers’ lived experiences, this blog for World Alzheimer's Day explores how coordinated support, practical training and dementia-friendly services could improve care and quality of life.
Why it benefits people’s health to monitor respiratory viruses
Discover how interactive virology dashboards are transforming respiratory virus surveillance in England, giving general practices and public health teams timely insights into which viruses are circulating, who they affect, and how data can support better health decisions.
Painting and Magic Mushrooms: An Unorthodox Perspective
For Lei Clifton, painting isn't about creating masterpieces - it's about making space to pause, be present, and rediscover the simple pleasure of creativity. In this thoughtful reflection, she explores what painting has taught her about wellbeing.
Prioritising young people’s sexual health, in sexual health week and all year round
Fifteen years after a landmark UK study gave young people a voice on their sexual lives, Professor Cicely Marston explains why the evidence needs updating – and how new ESRC-funded research will co-produce it with young people.
Fifty years of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI)
Reflecting on 50 years of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation, Oxford MSc in Global Heatlhcare Leadership alumni Olukayode Fasominu and Edmon Obat examine immunisation systems in Nigeria and Kenya, using a dynamic capabilities framework to explore resilience, governance, donor transition and the need for continuous renewal.
The Perspective from Carlisle: Multi–Cancer Diagnostic Testing and Primary Care
Could multi-cancer blood tests help GPs identify cancer sooner? Our Cancer Theme travelled to Carlisle to hear local perspectives on cancer diagnosis, access to research and the ARMADILO study, exploring how new tests could work for rural and underserved communities.
Japan's role in global health architecture reform
Dr Luke Allen, Co-Director of the Global Primary Care & Future Health Systems team, reflects on a week of meetings in Tokyo – and why the most important shifts in global health financing may not be coming from donors at all.
Improving primary health care can prevent suicides
Most people who die by suicide have seen their GP in the previous year. Dr Faraz Mughal argues that better-equipped general practice can prevent suicides, and sets out the department's research with people with lived experience.
The RSV cases England never counted
RSV is often thought of as a childhood illness, but its impact on adults in England may be far greater than official figures suggest. New research reveals thousands of hidden hospital admissions – and tens of millions in overlooked NHS costs.
Leadership across difference: Trust as the currency of collective action
10 Aug, 2026
In response to Professor Kamal R. Mahtani's recent blog dedicated to Cohort 2, Olukayode Fasominu, a Cohort 2 alumnus of the MSc in Global Healthcare Leadership programme, reflects on why trust is the foundation of effective leadership, enabling collective action across difference in complex global health settings.
Climate-friendly food procurement and advertising: what are local authorities in England doing?
6 Aug, 2026
How can local authorities help create healthier, more sustainable food systems? In this opinion piece, originally posted on the University of Oxford website, researchers draw on new research to examine the role of food procurement and advertising policies, highlighting progress to date and the scope for further action across England.
Nipple shields to support breastfeeding – a co-production workshop
Nipple shields can make a real difference to breastfeeding, but people's experiences of using them vary, and there are still many unanswered questions about how safe and effective they are. Our Nipple Shields to Support Breastfeeding project aims to review the evidence to support parents. In this blog, PPI participants and researchers share their reflections on a recent event that will shape how the new research will be shared with those that need it most.
Creative methods of communicating to inform women’s health research in primary care - Blackpool
A Blackpool workshop explored how simple arts-based activities can make patient and public involvement in women’s health research more welcoming, inclusive and accessible for women experiencing socio-economic disadvantage.