Introduction to the History of CPHS
In 2002 a Centre for Public Health and Primary Care Research (CPHPCR) was launched, with Director Professor Gerry Fowkes. Its mission was to:
- Undertake high quality research in topics of importance in public health and primary care
- Contribute to improvement in public health and primary care health services by dissemination of research findings and collaboration in design of implementation projects
- Offer an excellent research training environment and a vibrant research milieu for postgraduate students, research fellows and early career researchers
CPCPHR was based within the School of Clinical Sciences and Community Health (SCSCH), and brought together senior researchers from the then Division of Community Health Sciences (CHS) - see history - which had been formed in 1998 as a coalition of:
- the Public Health Sciences section
- the General Practice section
- the Research Unit for Health and Behaviour Change
In 2008 a decision was made to re-focus the Centre to promote more multidisciplinary research between Centre investigators (epidemiologists, statisticians and social scientists in public health and primary care) and biomedical scientists and clinicians throughout the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. The centre was thus re-launched in 2008 as the Centre for Population Health Sciences, linked to both:
- the Institute of Genes and Molecular Medicine (on WGH campus), and
- the Queen's Medical Research Institute (on RIE campus).
Initially CPHS had been 'virtual' research centre, comprising only Centre investigators, while all personnel/grant administration, teaching, research/ technical support, grant application etc, continued to be undertaken from within the Division of CHS. In late 2010 it was decided to rationalise into a single institution, still to be called the Centre for Population Health Sciences, but comprising all staff and fulfilling all previous functions of both CPHS and CHS. This therefore spelled the end of CHS, and shortly after that there was a decision also that CPHS should in August 2012 move to the School of Molecular, Genetic and Population Health Sciences (SMGPHS).
