About us at Global Disaster Medicine - Health Needs and Response

What we do

At Global Disaster Medicine - Health Needs and Response we conduct a wide range of research in the field of disaster medicine. Our researchers frequently draw on their experience of field work in disaster-stricken areas in their academic work. We also teach several courses and an Erasmus Mundus Master programme.

In addition to our research and teaching, we also conduct analysis, compile reports and evaluations on needs assessments in disasters, improved disaster preparedness, evaluations of international humanitarian health relief and national disaster response, and much more. Furthermore, we provide advice and analysis on health care response related topics involving decision-making following disasters.

We aim to

• increase the capacity of the Swedish disaster response system by spreading knowledge and experience from global disasters, as well as acting as a standby for field work and for advising Swedish authorities
• improve and strengthen both Swedish and international medical responses to major disasters, by creating and validating tools for needs assessments and evaluation
• create conditions for improved trauma triage by studying methods for development and use of clinical prediction models
• generate new knowledge on treatment of wound trauma
• better understand ethical challenges and moral stress of disasters on the mental health of responders

Our history

Global Disaster Medicine - Health Needs and Response was founded in 2002 (Until October 2023 we were called The Centre for Research on Health Care in Disasters). The group has always been a part of the Department of Global Public Health (at the time called the Department of Public Health Sciences) at Karolinska Institutet. The department is an international and interdisciplinary environment, home to a copious amount of research on many aspects of global public health. 

Since the start the group has been headed by Johan von Schreeb; professor of disaster medicine at KI with over 25 years of experience working in disaster areas. His PhD was supervised by the renowned professor of international health at KI, Hans Rosling. 

Collaborations & Partners

Centre for Health Crises 

We collaborate closely with the Centre for Health Crises, which was initiated by KI in the summer of 2021. The centre works inter-disciplinary, with an holistic approach to health crises. By way of research, education, and expert advice, it wants to contribute to improved preparedness and ability to handle future health crises, in particular by building the next generation of health crises experts. The Centre for Health Crises is also headed by Professor Johan von Schreeb. 

WHO

In 2017 Global Disaster Medicine - Health Needs and Response was named a WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training on Health Care and Public Health in Disasters. Being a WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training on Health Care and Public Health in Disasters means, among other things, that we:

• Support the WHO in promoting the Emergency Medical Teams (EMT) - Global Health Emergency Workforce initiative
• On WHO's request, develop and support capacity building within disaster medicine for EMTs working in vulnerable countries
• Contribute to the WHO's work with health care systems and disasters, as well as protracted emergency situations

Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) Sweden

Our collaboration with Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) goes back a long time. Johan von Schreeb, the head of the Centre for Research on Health Care in Disasters, co-founded the Swedish branch of MSF in 1993. He has also served as chairman of the Swedish branch and worked in countless field operations over the years. He is not alone in his dedication to MSF's work. Several of members of our team have worked with MSF, and still do, in disaster-stricken areas around the world. At the moment we work with MSF in Lebanon, among other places. We also conduct training and education in collaboration with MSF Sweden, in particular for new doctors, nurses and other health professionals who are about to embark on field work. Our collaboration with MSF is one of the ways in which we constantly stay connected to the realities of day-to-day work on the ground when it comes to disaster medicine and global health.

Other collaborations

• Disaster Medicine Network Sweden - we initiated and now form part of a network consisting of six universities and research facilities who all work in the field of disaster medicine in Sweden. The aim is to be a forum for gathering and sharing research, developments and training. 
• Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) - we act in an advisory role to the national board, as a centre for research (kunskapscentrum) in the field of global disaster medicine and international missions. Among other things, our role includes submitting reports and analysis to the board every year. 
• Karolinska University Hospital
• Linköping University
• Uppsala University
• University of Bergen
• University of Piemonte (CRIMEDIN)
• University of Nicosia
• University of Oviedo
• TATA Institute India