Profile: Dr Kelley Lee
Dr Kelley Lee from the Centre on Global Change & Health talks about her career and research
"I am among the 'unusual suspects' within the School in that my research career in public health over the past dozen years has followed on from postgraduate training in international relations and public administration, and experience as a policy analyst on trade issues. In hindsight, a doctorate on the global political economy of telecommunications has been the ideal background for researching the role of the United Nations in health development, as well as understanding the broader determinants of health. Indeed, my particular perspective has been to see the 'bigger picture', whether in analysing individual institutions, selected health issues or, in more recent years, the impacts of globalisation on health.
The focus of my initial research in the School was on the changing role of the World Health Organisation. This includes contributions to multidonor studies of extra-budgetary funding and country programmes. Undertaken at a time of transition, WHO proved a fascinating and complex subject. Drawing on theories of international organisation, it became exceedingly clear that the technical work of this UN specialised agency is also highly political. This has become increasingly evident as WHO is joined by a greater diversity of public and private sector players seeking to influence health development. The future of global health governance raises a wide range of research questions.
Correspondingly, my research over the past six years has shifted from international to global health. The latter concerns the increasing importance of health determinants and outcomes that cannot be confined to familiar spatial boundaries (notably national borders), thus challenging traditional approaches to how we protect and promote public health. Whilst this leads to an obvious interest in infectious diseases, patterns of non-communicable diseases are also rapidly changing. Undertaking research on this rapidly emerging field is intellectually challenging because it requires a paradigm shift away from the health of nations. Whilst state-centred analysis remains relevant, new configurations of population health are emerging that reflect trans-border cause and effects. This calls for the reinterpretation of available national health data, and the collection of new datasets. It also demands an embrace of hitherto non-health subject areas such as international trade and finance, telecommunications, and foreign policy and security.
The School has been an ideal and unique setting for the development of global health research because of its multidisciplinary staff, and its ability to straddle both the research and policy communities. From being a 'fish out of water', the School has provided me the intellectual space to contribute to an emerging area of research that is already changing the face of public health worldwide."
Dr Paul Wilkinson also works in the Public & Environmental Health Research Unit
