WHO/Jerome Flayosc

UCL Global Business School for Health and WHO sign agreement to advance learning health systems and evidence-informed policy

15 May 2026

Departmental update

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University College London (UCL) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formalize collaboration on learning health systems and the use of evidence in policy.

The partnership also marks an important step in the establishment of the Centre for Global Health Systems and Policy at UCL, which will serve as a platform for bringing together research, education, and partnerships to support more adaptive, equitable, and contextually grounded health systems.

The agreement, signed between UCL Global Business School for Health (GBSH) and the WHO Science Division, reflects a shared commitment to strengthening how evidence is generated, translated, and applied within health systems, with a particular focus on low- and middle-income countries.

The MoU provides a flexible framework for collaboration across three core areas: capacity strengthening and leadership development; research and knowledge generation; and advancing methods, best practices, and approaches for evidence-informed policy-making.

Leaders from both institutions highlighted the importance of the collaboration.

“This Memorandum of Understanding provides a foundation for a sustained collaboration between the UCL Global Business School for Health and WHO on learning health systems and the use of evidence in policy,” said Professor Kabir Sheikh, Director of the Centre for Global Health Systems and Policy, UCL Global Business School for Health. “We have started to operationalize this partnership through our Impact Fellowship programme, bringing talented health systems leaders from the low- and middle-income countries into WHO processes to contribute to the implementation of global research agendas. Through the Centre, we will develop a broader programme of collaboration to strengthen how evidence is used and how health systems improve and innovate.”

“This partnership reflects our commitment to working with leading global institutions to address complex health system challenges,” said Professor Nora Colton, Director of UCL Global Business School for Health. “By combining WHO’s global leadership with UCL Global Business School for Health’s focus on innovation, research and education, we aim to strengthen how evidence is used in policy and to accelerate health system innovation to improve outcomes globally.”

An early example of the collaboration is the engagement of UCL Impact Fellows with WHO’s Science for Health Department. As part of this work, fellows contributed to a multi-case comparative analysis of WHO-led global research agendas, examining how these agendas are implemented and sustained following publication.

The work resulted in a draft report, Beyond Agenda-Setting: Lessons from the Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation of WHO Global Research Agendas, which synthesizes lessons across multiple domains and proposes practical approaches to strengthen follow-through, institutional anchoring, and monitoring and evaluation systems.

This early collaboration illustrates the broader ambition of the partnership: to generate structured learning that informs WHO processes while also contributing to wider health systems and policy practice.

“Partnerships such as this are essential to closing the gap between evidence and action,” said Dr Meg Doherty, Director of Science for Health at WHO. “Through WHO’s EVIPNet, we connect scientific leadership, policy and health system improvement to support countries in embedding evidence in decision-making and improving health outcomes. As a convener, WHO works in close collaboration with strong partners such as UCL – an engagement formalized through the Memorandum of Understanding we have just signed.”

“In a rapidly evolving global context, health systems must be able to adapt swiftly and efficiently, without exacerbating resource constraints, particularly in the low- and middle-income countries,” highlighted Dr Sylvie Briand, WHO Chief Scientist. “Therefore, this partnership will enhance WHO’s capacity to support countries in translating scientific knowledge into effective policy, fostering more resilient, equitable, and responsive health systems.”

Looking ahead, UCL and WHO intend to develop a joint programme of work under the MoU, including collaborative research, capacity strengthening initiatives, and contributions to field-building in learning health systems. The agreement also allows for additional areas of cooperation to emerge over time, reflecting evolving priorities and opportunities. The MoU is expected to run for an initial period of three years, with scope for extension and for the development of more specific programme agreements as the collaboration matures.

Together, the partnership aims to strengthen how health systems learn, adapt, and improve, contributing to more effective, evidence-informed, and equitable responses to complex and emerging health challenges.

For more information, please contact EIDM@who.int