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Michael Head

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.

Europe faces worst measles outbreak since 1997 – new data

Mar 18, 2025 15:08 pm UTC| Insights & Views Health

Europe has had the highest number of measles cases since 1997, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO). There were 127,350 cases in 2024 about double the number from 2023. Measles is back, and...

Why is whooping cough surging in the UK? Falling vaccination rates may be answer

May 15, 2024 07:27 am UTC| Health

A large outbreak of pertussis (more commonly known as whooping cough) has been ongoing in the UK since the beginning of 2024. There have been 2,793 confirmed cases so far this year. Sadly, five infant deaths due to...

AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccine withdrawn – right to the end it was the victim of misinformation

May 09, 2024 07:10 am UTC| Insights & Views Health

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was a critical part of the COVID-19 pandemic response. However, on May 7 2024, the European Commission announced the vaccine is no longer authorised for use. This EU announcement was...

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...

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Economy

KOSPI Plunges Over 8% as U.S.-Iran War Sparks Global Risk Aversion and Profit-Taking

South Koreas KOSPI index tumbled sharply on Wednesday, falling more than 8% and triggering a temporary halt in stock trading as investors reacted to escalating geopolitical tensions and rising energy prices linked to the...

China Factory Activity Surges to Five-Year High as Demand Boosts Manufacturing PMI

Chinas manufacturing sector showed strong momentum in February, with factory activity expanding at the fastest pace since December 2020, supported by stronger domestic and overseas demand. A private-sector survey released...

Gold Prices Rebound in Asia as U.S.–Iran Tensions Support Safe-Haven Demand

Gold prices moved higher during Asian trading on Wednesday, recovering some of the sharp losses from the previous session as investors reassessed demand for safe-haven assets amid escalating geopolitical tensions between...

Asian Markets Slide as Middle East Conflict Sparks Oil Price Surge and Inflation Fears

Asian financial markets fell sharply on Wednesday as investors rushed to reduce exposure to previously crowded trades in gold and semiconductor stocks. The market downturn was driven by escalating concerns that a widening...

Dollar Hits Three-Month High as Middle East Conflict Drives Energy Prices and Market Volatility

The U.S. dollar surged to a three-month high during early Asian trading on Wednesday as escalating tensions in the Middle East pushed investors away from the euro and toward safe-haven assets. The growing conflict...

Politics

Michael Whatley Wins North Carolina GOP Senate Primary, Setting Up High-Stakes Battle With Roy Cooper

Michael Whatley, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, has won the Republican primary for North Carolinas open U.S. Senate seat, according to media projections. The victory positions Whatley for a closely watched...

U.S. Officials Review Tencent’s Stakes in Epic Games, Riot Games Over Security Concerns

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly evaluating whether Chinese technology giant Tencent Holdings Ltd (HK:0700) should be allowed to keep its ownership stakes in several major video game...

U.S. Begins Charter Evacuations as Iran Conflict Disrupts Middle East Air Travel

The United States has begun facilitating charter evacuation flights for American citizens stranded across the Middle East after the escalating U.S.-Israel military strikes on Iran severely disrupted global aviation and...

U.S. Preparing Possible Corruption Charges Against Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez

The Trump administration is reportedly preparing a potential criminal case against Venezuelan interim president Delcy Rodriguez as part of broader efforts to increase U.S. leverage over Venezuelas government, according to...

Trump Defends Extended U.S.-Israel Military Campaign Against Iran

U.S. President Donald Trump has defended the ongoing U.S. and Israeli military campaign against Iran, signaling that the conflict could last longer than initially expected. The operation, which began with coordinated...

Science

SpaceX Pivots Toward Moon City as Musk Reframes Long-Term Space Vision

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has revealed a significant shift in the companys near-term space exploration strategy, announcing that SpaceX is now prioritizing the development of a self-growing city on the Moon rather than focusing...

SpaceX Prioritizes Moon Mission Before Mars as Starship Development Accelerates

Elon Musks SpaceX is shifting its near-term space exploration strategy, choosing to prioritize a return to the Moon before pursuing missions to Mars, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report citing sources familiar...

NASA and SpaceX Target Crew-11 Undocking From ISS Amid Medical Concern

NASA has confirmed that the agency, in coordination with SpaceX, is targeting no earlier than 5 p.m. Eastern Time (2200 GMT) on Wednesday, January 14, for the undocking of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission from the International...

Neuralink Plans High-Volume Brain Implant Production and Fully Automated Surgery by 2026

Elon Musks brain-computer interface company Neuralink is preparing for a major expansion, announcing plans to begin high-volume production of its brain implant devices and transition to a fully automated surgical procedure...

Jared Isaacman Confirmed as NASA Administrator, Becomes 15th Leader of U.S. Space Agency

The U.S. Senate has officially confirmed billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman as the new NASA administrator, making him the 15th leader in the agencys history. The confirmation, which took place on Wednesday, marks...

Technology

Defense Contractors Move to Drop Anthropic AI After Trump Administration Ban

Major U.S. defense contractors are expected to remove Anthropics AI tools from their supply chains following a directive from the Trump administration, even though legal experts say the ban could face serious challenges in...

OpenAI Explores New Code-Hosting Platform to Reduce Dependence on GitHub

OpenAI is reportedly developing a new code-hosting platform that could eventually compete with Microsofts GitHub, according to a recent report citing sources familiar with the initiative. The project is still in its early...

Facebook Outage Disrupts Thousands of Users Across the United States

Meta Platforms Facebook experienced a widespread outage on Tuesday that affected thousands of users across the United States, according to data from Downdetector.com, a website that tracks service disruptions for major...

Lockheed Martin Secures $1.9B U.S. Air Force Contract for C-130J Training and Maintenance Systems

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has secured a $1.9 billion indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to support the C-130J Maintenance and Training System IV (JMATS IV)...

OpenAI and U.S. Defense Department Update Agreement to Clarify AI Usage Terms

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced that the company is working with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to update their existing agreement, reinforcing clear boundaries around how OpenAIs technology, including ChatGPT, can...