Frontiers in Human Health

Our four-week summer school programme is a university Level 6 module worth 15 credits (3–4 US credits or 7.5 ECTS credits).

It offers you the opportunity to explore past, present and future approaches to tackling some of the world’s major health challenges and to design and conduct your own group research project while based here in London.

It is also possible to study as a non-credit bearing course.

The full summer school programme handbook will be available to download soon.

Through engaging with the Summer School programme, you will be able to:

• identify past advancements and current research to address challenges at the frontiers of global health, infection and immunity, genomic medicine, translational medicine and population health
• appraise and discuss key concepts, research approaches and enabling technologies that underpin(ned) these advancements and apply informed speculation about how they may advance human health in the future
• apply hypothesis-driven research principles to laboratory bioscience experimentation, providing a rationale for experimental design and methodology choices
• critically analyse experimental data and present findings clearly and meaningfully for a research audience using a visual medium (poster) and associated oral presentation.

For award of academic credit, achievement of module outcomes will be assessed by 2 summative assessments:

1. A 2 hour written examination
2. A visual poster with an accompanying short oral presentation.

An aggregate mark of 40% across the 2 assessments will result in award of 15 academic credits.

Written examination

You will undertake an invigilated 2 hour online examination in which you will answer a single question that will have been presented to you during the first week of the summer school (a seen examination).

The question, which will be formulated around the theme of Frontiers in Human Health, will require you to write an article for informed non-specialists (e.g. Scientific American), drawing on insights gained during the course, complemented by your own critical analysis, reflections and speculations.

Poster and oral presentation

Together with your group research project peers, you will design and produce a scientific poster describing the background, rationale, methods, and findings of your mini-research project, critically analysing the results and discussing their limitations, wider implications, and next steps.

You will give a group oral presentation on your poster to peers and an expert panel of assessors.

The oral presentation will be a maximum of 7 minutes followed by 3 minutes for questions and answers.

Assignments weighting

Our social programme allows students to get to know their peers and academics, in the heart of London. The variety of events is catered to all budgets and allows students to experience the best cultural experience.

The programme is designed such that students always have Wednesday afternoons free, as well as a free Friday in the third week.

Future social activities will be confirmed before the start of the summer school and may be subject to change.

If you have suggestions for what you would like to be included, please let us know by contacting the course team at summer@sgul.ac.uk.

Examples of social activities from the 2024 summer school

• Climb the O2: A climb to the top of The O2 with aerial view of London landmarks
• Visit the Wellcome Collection: A free museum and library exploring health and human experience.

For the duration of the summer school you can choose to live in Horton Halls, our halls of residence, which is a 15-minute walk from the University campus.

Each bedroom has an en-suite bathroom, and you will have shared use of a kitchen and common room.

Standard (single) room accommodation is provided at a cost of £202 per week.

There will be a £50 deposit taken when the accommodation cost if paid. This will be returned once our Accommodation Officers have given their approval when the summer school has finished.

We offer a 10% discount to St George’s alumni and groups of four or more students from the same institution.

Accommodation costs are in addition to the tuition fee, and you have the option of sourcing alternative accommodation elsewhere. You will also need to consider additional costs for living expenses and optional social activities.

The fees for the 2025 summer school are:

• Tuition fee: £2,950.
• Early bird fee (apply by 26 March 2025): £2,500.

Current St George’s students will receive 10% off the tuition fee cost whenever they apply.

Accommodation fees are not included in the tuition price. Please see the Accommodation tab on this webpage for more information, including costs, for Horton Halls, St George’s halls of residence.

Please note that activities within the social programme may also incur some additional costs.

Apply for the Frontiers in Human Health Summer School by completing this online form.

The application deadlines are:

• 26 March for early bird applications
• 9 May for international students
• 30 May for home/UK students.

Please read the information in the sections below before making your application.

Dr Efthymia (Efi) Papaevangelou, Course Director

I am the Course Director for the Frontiers in Human Health Summer School, where I am involved in admissions, course monitoring, curriculum development, provision of lectures and student project supervision.

My research is concerned with the study of pharmacological therapies of cancer and their combination in preclinical models both in vitro and in vivo. My main research interest is to identify potent immunotherapies (therapies that use the immune system) that can be combined either with other immunotherapies or with conventional therapies to treat different types of cancer, with a focus on prostate cancer. My goal is to identify combinatorial treatments for cancer patients that lead to curable disease outcomes.

I obtained my PhD in Cancer Biology and Imaging at St George’s, University of London (SGUL, 2013). My postdoctoral research at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR, Sutton, UK), focused on applying a range of cancer therapeutics, including chemotherapies, targeted therapies and their combinations in preclinical models of colorectal and ovarian cancer. I later joined King’s College London (KCL, London, UK), where she investigated the effects of cancer immunotherapies, such as cytokines and checkpoint inhibitors, on preclinical models of prostate cancer. In September 2021, I returned to St George’s as a Lecturer in Cellular Pharmacology and is part of the Clinical Pharmacology BSc team, where I currently provide cell biology, cancer biology and cancer treatment-related lectures for the course. I am also the Year 2 Academic Lead and Admissions Tutor. I am also the leader for the Fundamentals of Science Year 2 and Laboratory Skills Years 1 and 2 modules of the course. I am actively involved in undergraduate and graduate student project supervision.

Nikki George, Professional Education Manager

I lead and manage the operational development of the Centre for Professional Education. The Professional Education Centre concentrates on expanding and coordinating a portfolio of standalone modules, short courses and CPD courses for healthcare professionals.

With the help of the course team, I coordinate and provide administration for the Frontiers in Human Health summer school.

As the first point of contact, the summer school is a great opportunity for me to get to know the students throughout the duration of the course. I will help students with any queries relating to the summer school from application stage through to completion. The social programme is a huge part of the programme, and I am heavily involved in the planning and organisation of the activities – this is a great way for students to meet each other and enjoy what London offers outside of the classroom.