Prof. R. Pool (1955) has been appointed Professor of Social Science and Global Health at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences of the University of Amsterdam (UvA).

Robert Pool’s research focuses on a wide variety of topics, including the social and cultural aspects of malaria and HIV prevention in Africa. He is also involved in research on aging and the end of life, behaviour change, and methodological innovation on the interface between social and medical sciences. Pool will play a central role in the Centre for Social Science and Global Health (SSGH) within the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR). He recently received a grant from WOTRO of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) for the project Sustainable Community Health Resources in Poor Communities in Africa project, which focuses on the identification of existing social roles, networks and group processes that could serve as the basis for health interventions.

Pool has served as Research Professor of Medical Anthropology at the Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB). He was previously Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He has four books to his name and published articles in numerous journals, including The Malaria Journal, Social Science and Medicine and Tropical Medicine and International Health. He has received two million-plus grants for malaria research from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.