UCL Global Business School for Health

02/10/2026

A new academic year. New friendships. New ideas. New possibilities.

This week our new cohort of undergraduate and postgraduate students joined the UCL Global Business School for Health community for Induction Week 2026.

Across a week of welcomes, conversations and celebrations, students connected with classmates, academics, alumni and healthcare leaders while exploring what it means to lead change in one of the world's most complex and important sectors.

Our students arrive from different countries, professional backgrounds and stages of their careers, but with a shared ambition: to improve healthcare and health outcomes for people around the world.

As Professor Mark Schuster, Executive Dean of UCL Faculty of Population Health Sciences, reflected during the week, the future of healthcare will depend on leaders who are curious, collaborative and prepared to work across disciplines to address global challenges.

From thought-provoking discussions on the future of healthcare to inspiring stories from students and alumni, the week offered a glimpse of the ideas, collaborations and innovations that will emerge from this year's cohort.

To all our of new and returning students, welcome to GBSH. We're glad you're here and excited for what comes next.

Special thanks to Sunny Sagoo for making Induction Week 2026 such a memorable start to the year.

01/10/2026

We're proud to announce that UCL Global Business School for Health has been awarded the Athena Swan Bronze Award, recognising our commitment to advancing gender equality and fostering an inclusive environment for staff and students.

This achievement reflects the hard work and dedication of colleagues across the school, particularly our Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team, chaired by James Cannon and Hend Abdelhakim, who led the review of our practices, gathered evidence and developed an ambitious action plan for the future.

Professor Nora Colton, Founding Director of UCL GBSH, said: "I am delighted that GBSH has received the Athena Swan Bronze Award. As a young and ambitious school, we are committed to fostering a culture in which everyone has the opportunity to succeed and contribute fully. This award reinforces our commitment to building a supportive, inclusive and equitable environment for staff and students as we continue to grow our impact globally."

James Cannon, GBSH Accreditation Manager, added: "This is a proud moment for everyone at GBSH, and a real testament to the hard work and dedication of our Self-Assessment Team, who approached this process with enormous commitment and rigour. It's also been wonderful to feel the support of colleagues across the Faculty of Population Health Sciences throughout the process. But for me the most exciting part is what comes next — we have a detailed, ambitious action plan focused on the things that matter most to our staff and students, and we are fully committed to delivering on it."

The award marks an important milestone for the school, while reinforcing its commitment to continuous improvement and creating an environment where all staff and students can thrive.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this achievement.

30/09/2026

We're proud to see Professor Radi Haloub, Director of Education at UCL Global Business School for Health, recognised among the distinguished judges at this year's Pharma Industry Awards UK.

As both a judge and award presenter Professor Haloub joined leaders from across the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors to celebrate innovation, excellence and impact across the industry.

Engagement with organisations at the forefront of healthcare and life sciences is central to our mission at UCL GBSH. These connections help ensure our students benefit from current industry insight, professional networks and real-world perspectives that support their future careers.

Professor Haloub said: "I am delighted to have been invited to serve as a judge at the Pharma Industry Awards UK, evaluating some of the outstanding initiatives undertaken by pharmaceutical companies operating across the UK in a range of award categories. My involvement reflects the continued commitment of UCL GBSH to engaging with, contributing to, and supporting the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries in the UK. It is a valuable opportunity to recognise innovation and excellence across the sector while strengthening the connection between academia and industry."

29/09/2026

What happens when hospitals can't access essential medicines?

New research from UCL GBSH's Dr Rodolfo Catena, featured in The Guardian today, highlights the scale of medicine shortages facing NHS trusts and raises important questions about supply chain resilience across healthcare.

The study found that many NHS trusts experienced shortages of commonly used medicines, while most reported having no contingency plans in place and had not formally reported shortages to NHS England.

The findings highlight why healthcare organisations need professionals who can navigate complexity, manage risk and strengthen supply chain resilience across health systems.

These challenges are exactly why we've launched our new MSc Supply Chain Management for Healthcare: a programme designed to prepare future leaders to strengthen healthcare supply chains, improve resilience and drive better patient outcomes.

📰 Read The Guardian article: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/sep/29/hospitals-shortages-medicine-paracetamol-nhs-england

🎓 Discover the course: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/study/prospective-students/graduate/courses/supply-chain-management-healthcare-msc

HealthcareSupplyChain

NHS trusts also report disruption to supplies last winter of co-codamol and blood pressure medication ramipril

28/09/2026

Real-world challenges, industry collaboration and applied learning are at the heart of the student experience at UCL Global Business School for Health.

Recently, MBA students Havvanur Akdağ, Olivia Burns and Eva Raczka presented the findings of their consultancy project at PwC, exploring how the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) can strengthen its AI capabilities to support responsible innovation in medicines regulation.

Working with academic and industry mentors, the team examined a critical question facing healthcare systems today: how can regulation keep pace with innovation while maintaining patient safety and public trust?

The project gave students the opportunity to engage with a live policy and industry challenge, apply their learning to a real-world context, and gain insight from leaders working at the intersection of healthcare, technology and regulation.

Reflecting on the experience, the students said:

"We really enjoyed working as a team towards this goal, and it was highly rewarding to collaborate with industry professionals and gain a deeper understanding of their perspectives on the topic we were tackling. We hope to publish our findings and use this experience to continue developing our skills and grow as future leaders within our industry."

At UCL GBSH, consultancy projects provide students with opportunities to tackle complex healthcare challenges, build meaningful industry connections and develop the leadership skills needed to drive change across the sector.

25/09/2026

As AI becomes part of everyday health information seeking, understanding how people assess and trust vaccine information has never been more important.

A new UCL project led by GBSH, funded by VaxHub Global, and delivered with the London Borough of Newham, will investigate how communities engage with vaccine information in an AI-mediated environment and co-design resources to strengthen AI health literacy.

The project combines research, community partnership and policy engagement to help address one of the emerging public health challenges of the digital age.

Read the full story: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/population-health-sciences/news/2026/jun/ucl-launches-project-help-communities-navigate-vaccine-information-ai-age

23/09/2026

We're proud to share that UCL GBSH MBA alumna Barbara da Camara Santos Marinho has been shortlisted for the AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards 2027 in the Start-Up of the Year category for her venture, Medfellow.

This international recognition celebrates entrepreneurial talent emerging from business schools around the world and highlights innovators who are turning bold ideas into real-world impact. Barbara's shortlisting is a testament to her vision, determination and commitment to improving healthcare through innovation.

At UCL Global Business School for Health, we're proud to support students and alumni who are challenging convention, developing new solutions, and driving positive change across the health sector.

Congratulations, Barbara, on this fantastic achievement. We wish you the very best in the awards process.

View the awards shortlist: https://www.amba-bga.com/insights/celebrating-excellence-business-education-awards-2027-shortlist

Discover Barbara's UCL GBSH journey: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/population-health-sciences/news/2025/apr/ucl-gbsh-student-week-dr-barbara-marinho

22/09/2026

Meet this week's UCL GBSH Student of the Week: Quéli Costa 🎉

While working in specialist orthodontic practice in London, Quéli is studying for an MSc in Digital Health and Entrepreneurship, driven by a desire to understand how technology can help address healthcare systems challenges and improve patient care.

Through her studies, research and participation in the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme, she's developing the knowledge and skills to turn ideas into meaningful impact. Her current research focuses on digital health literacy, information privacy and readiness for patient-held dental records.

In her Student of the Week profile, Quéli reflects on studying alongside a global cohort, balancing clinical practice with part-time study, and falling in love with the problem you're trying to solve.

Read Quéli's story here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/population-health-sciences/news/2026/sep/ucl-gbsh-student-week-queli-costa-0

21/09/2026

A warm welcome to all the new students joining us this week at the UCL Global Business School for Health (UCL GBSH) 👋💜

Studying in a new country is exciting, but it can also feel overwhelming.

UCL’s International Student Welcome Week is designed to help you settle into life at UCL!

New International Students across all of our courses are invited to participate in a series of tailored seminars and Q&A talks. These provide the chance to find out more about UCL services and resources, plus make connections with other students before the start of the term!

Topics include:

→ Safety Seminars
→ Library Seminars
→ Academic Communication Seminars
→ Careers Seminar
→ Faith and Religion Seminars
→ Managing Your Money Seminars
→ Student Wellbeing and Support Seminars
→ Student Led Q&A Sessions

Students' Union UCL have also organised a number of social events throughout the week.

➡️ Register for a talk: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/study/events/2026/sep/international-student-welcome-week

➡️ Book a social event: https://studentsunionucl.org/whats-on

18/09/2026

Great to see UCL GBSH alumnus Dr Sheikh Mateen Ellahi featured in Pulse Today this week.

Dr Ellahi joined our first Healthcare MBA cohort in 2022/23 and brought what he learned straight back to the frontline of general practice, at Elm Tree Medical Centre, and here are the results:

→ Patient list grown from ~6,000 to ~19,000 in five years

→ Strong same-day access maintained despite significant list-size growth

→ Admin time cut by more than 50% on some workflows, through smarter, not just digitised, technology

The shift wasn't about seeing more patients faster. It was about investing in leadership capacity and treating general practice as the complex organisation it is.

📰 Read his full piece in Pulse Today here: https://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/views/pulse-careers/how-doing-an-mba-transformed-how-i-run-my-gp-surgery/