Senior Research Fellow in Global Health, University of Southampton
Dr Michael Head is a Senior Research Fellow in Global Health, based in the Clinical Informatics Research Unit at the University of Southampton, UK. He has a background in public health research and infectious disease epidemiology, with research links in Ghana, Togo, Ethiopia and Brazil. His main research interests are pneumonia and also Neglected Tropical Diseases, including scabies and onchocerciasis. Michael also analyses portfolios of research, to review levels of funding for different diseases and to provide insight into research strength, knowledge gaps, and future priorities. He has communicated extensively with the written and TV media throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Food prices will climb everywhere as temperatures rise due to climate change – new research
Mar 25, 2024 05:09 am UTC| Insights & Views Life Economy
Climate change, and specifically rising temperatures, may cause food prices to increase by 3.2% per year, according to a new study by researchers in Germany. As climate change continues to worsen, this price inflation will...
Scabies: UK facing unusually large outbreaks – and treatment shortages appear mostly to blame
Jan 08, 2024 22:24 pm UTC| Health
Scabies is an unpleasant skin infection thats common all around the world. Outbreaks happen regularly with an estimated 450 million cases occurring globally each year. But since the start of winter, outbreaks in the UK...
Billions is spent on cancer research globally – but is it money well spent?
Jun 03, 2023 03:27 am UTC| Insights & Views Business
In 2020, 19 million people around the world received a cancer diagnosis. By 2040, that number is expected to reach 28 million. Poorer countries will be especially hard hit, with an increasing number of cases and more...
Leprosy, scabies and yaws - Togo's neglected tropical skin diseases need attention
Mar 28, 2023 14:17 pm UTC| Health
Neglected tropical diseases are a group of 20 diseases found mostly in tropical regions that are strongly associated with poverty. Among them are skin diseases like scabies, leprosy and yaws. They are caused by some...
Mar 13, 2023 12:18 pm UTC| Insights & Views
Three years ago, on March 11 2020, World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus first formally described COVID-19 as a pandemic. The impact of the pandemic on all aspects of society has...
Flu is set for a big comeback now COVID restrictions are lifted – here’s what you need to know
Oct 11, 2022 04:36 am UTC| Health
The flu seasons of 2020 and 2021 were mild, mostly thanks to measures people took against COVID, such as wearing masks, social distancing and using copious amounts of hand gel. 2022, however, looks like a whole different...
There’s an extra $1 billion on the table for NT schools. This could change lives if spent well
Political donations rules are finally in the spotlight – here’s what the government should do