Strategy, vision and values

I am Professor David Lalu, the director of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. LS 10 was established in 1898 as the first institution in the world dedicated to research and teaching in tropical medicine. Today, our mission remains to improve health outcomes in disadvantaged populations globally through partnership in research and education, and as we enter 120 fifth anniversary year.

We are launching an ambitious new strategy, which builds on our long history and our existing strengths. Our ambition is to be widely recognized as a global organization headquartered in Liverpool as an institution which delivers innovative research, excellence, teaching, and places equitable partnerships.

At the heart of our work, our new strategy, which has been co-created and developed with our staff over the last year, sets out our vision. We’ll shape our plans over the coming years. It builds on our strength as a world leader in health related scientific research, which was recognized in the last research excellent framework when LSDM was ranked second in the UK.

For impact, the strategy outlines our four strategic goals. In research, we will undertake world class translational research to improve health outcomes for disadvantaged populations. Across the globe. In education, we’ll seek to deliver a flexible, accessible, and innovative portfolio, which will transform global health practice and leadership.

In partnerships, we’ll expand and develop local and international equitable partnerships that underpin our impact. And finally, we’ll invest in our internal capabilities and resources to ensure organizational sustainability and resilience. We recognize our role. In shifting the power balance between the global north and south to recognize the knowledge, expertise, and impact of health practitioners and leaders across the globe, and we’ll actively seek out partners and supporters with common agendas, which contributes to realizing our vision.

We will prioritize support for partnership hubs in Africa jointly learning from our shared experience to deliver a search informed education and impact. We will do this by investing in brilliant people and partnerships to bridge the gap in health and scientific capacity around the world and in Liverpool.

We’ll invest in a new inpatient human challenge unit and cutting edge laboratory facilities, as well as a new virtual institute in resilient health systems, which will underpin our work in improving equitable access to high quality care for all. We will seek out partnerships with industry, which will enable a rapid translation.

Of scientific discoveries and advances into development of tools and products, our strategy will only be realized through the hard work and support of our global LSDM community. We’ll seek to build lifelong connections with our staff, students, alumni’s partners, and supporters. As a socially conscious organization, we recognize the role that we have to play in driving positive action.

We acknowledge our origins in the city of Liverpool. Whose history has shaped our own path over the last 125 years, and we will continue to challenge the impact of that colonial history. Equity, diversity and inclusion will remain a core priority, and we are committed to realizing our vision as an actively anti-racist organization, creating an environment which fosters fairness, openness, and equity in decision making.

Equally, we understand the role we play in driving positive action. Which will contribute to climate justice to benefit the poorest communities, which are disproportionately affected by the impact of climate change. Through our new strategy, we’ll be ambitious in our own targets and plans as we reflect on our achievements and impact over the last 125 years.

I’m confident that our new strategy provides a platform to drive further impact in the future, and with the support of our staff, students, and partners. We will realize our collective vision.