About the Urban Health Collaborative

Our Mission

The mission of the Drexel Urban Health Collaborative (UHC) is to improve health in cities by increasing scientific knowledge and public awareness of urban health challenges and opportunities, as well as identifying and promoting actions and policies that improve population health and reduce health inequities.

The UHC conducts research, disseminates evidence, and builds capacity by partnering with other academic institutions, non-profit organizations, communities, and policy-makers.

Key Research Themes

The UHC advances several themes in its work, locally in Philadelphia, nationally and globally:

1. Data for Policy and Community Action: We use data to describe health in cities and rigorous policy evaluation to understand the impacts of urban policies and interventions on health.

2. Climate Change and Health: We make visible the effects of climate change on health in cities and provide evidence on what strategies work to reduce these impacts. 

3. Geospatial Data and Methods: We use innovative approaches, including novel and open data, AI tools, and other methods to improve and expand the use of data to advance urban health.

4. Health and Place: We increase understanding of how neighborhoods impact health and what neighborhood interventions can be useful for improving health.

5. Health Equity: We generate data and evidence that makes visible health inequities in cities, illuminates their fundamental drivers, and supports policies and interventions to eliminate them.