UMC Utrecht is an academic hospital affiliated to Utrecht University, the Netherlands. UMCU is one of the top-ranked academic medical centres in Europe. With approximately 12,000 employees, the University Medical Center Utrecht is one of the largest public health care institutions in the Netherlands and the largest employer in the region. There are several strategic programmes in which we excel in healthcare, research and training, one of which is the Julius Global Health. This is UMCU’s global health initiative, and it has the twofold aim to (1) conduct high-impact (clinical) epidemiological and public health research that generates evidence that contributes to better individual and public health, and (2) to educate new generations of researchers and health care professionals across the globe. Our global health research activities focus on Asia, Oceania and Africa, and draw on our expertise in (clinical) epidemiology in the areas of circulatory health, cancer, infectious disease, reproductive and child health, as well as environmental health. Educational activities draw on the epidemiological expertise of Julius Center and have expanded over the years to include courses in global health and capacity training in international health sciences, both in Utrecht and for a global audience through the support of the e- learning platform in Elevate Health.

Additionally, a major theme that has been a focus at UMC Utrecht is healthcare sustainability. More important than ever in the time of climate crisis, UMC Utrecht places the interdisciplinary theme of planetary health as a priority to tackle intersecting global challenges on climate change, increasing inequality, poverty, conflicts, breaches of human rights and citizens’ concerns about identity.