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Abouzeid M, Muthanna A, Nuwayhid I, El-Jardali F, Connors P, Habib RR, Akbarzadeh S, Jabbour S. Barriers to sustainable health research leadership in the Global South: Time for a Grand Bargain on localization of research leadership? Health Res Policy Syst 2022; 20:136. [PMID: 36536392 PMCID: PMC9761652 DOI: 10.1186/s12961-022-00910-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2022] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Strong Global South (GS) health research leadership, itself both dependent on and a requisite for strong health research systems, is essential to generate locally relevant research and ensure that evidence is translated into policy and practice. Strong GS health research systems and leadership are important for health development and in turn for strong health systems. However, many GS countries struggle to produce research and to improve performance on widely used research metrics measuring productivity and reflecting leadership. Drawing on literature from a rapid review, this viewpoint paper considers the barriers to GS health research leadership and proposes strategies to address these challenges. FINDINGS GS researchers and institutions face numerous barriers that undermine health research leadership potential. Barriers internal to the GS include researcher-level barriers such as insufficient mentorship, limited financial incentives and time constraints. Institutional barriers include limited availability of resources, restrictive and poorly developed research infrastructures, weak collaboration and obstructive policies and procedures. Structural barriers include political will, politicization of research and political instability. External barriers relate to the nature and extent of Global North (GN) activities and systems and include allocation and distribution of funding and resources, characteristics and focus of GN-GS research collaborations, and publication and information dissemination challenges. CONCLUSIONS Strengthening GS health research leadership requires acknowledgement of the many barriers, and adoption of mitigating measures by a range of actors at the institutional, national, regional and global levels. Particularly important are leadership capacity development integrating researcher, institutional and systems initiatives; new GN-GS partnership models emphasizing capacity exchange and shared leadership; supporting GS research communities to set, own and drive their research agendas; addressing biases against GS researchers; ensuring that GS institutions address their internal challenges; enhancing South-South collaborations; diversifying research funding flow to the GS; and learning from models that work. The time has come for a firm commitment to improving localization of research leadership, supported by adequate funding flow, to ensure strong and sustainable research systems and leadership in and from the GS. Just as the humanitarian donor and aid community adopted the Grand Bargain commitment to improve funding flow through local and national responders in times of crisis, we strongly urge the global health research community to adopt a Grand Bargain for research leadership.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marian Abouzeid
- grid.22903.3a0000 0004 1936 9801The Lancet-American University of Beirut Commission on Syria, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon ,grid.22903.3a0000 0004 1936 9801Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon ,grid.1021.20000 0001 0526 7079Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC Australia ,grid.1021.20000 0001 0526 7079Centre for Humanitarian Leadership, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC Australia
| | - Ahlam Muthanna
- grid.22903.3a0000 0004 1936 9801The Lancet-American University of Beirut Commission on Syria, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Iman Nuwayhid
- grid.22903.3a0000 0004 1936 9801The Lancet-American University of Beirut Commission on Syria, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon ,grid.22903.3a0000 0004 1936 9801Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Fadi El-Jardali
- grid.22903.3a0000 0004 1936 9801Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Phil Connors
- grid.1021.20000 0001 0526 7079Centre for Humanitarian Leadership, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC Australia
| | - Rima R. Habib
- grid.22903.3a0000 0004 1936 9801Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Shahram Akbarzadeh
- grid.1021.20000 0001 0526 7079Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC Australia
| | - Samer Jabbour
- grid.22903.3a0000 0004 1936 9801The Lancet-American University of Beirut Commission on Syria, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon ,grid.22903.3a0000 0004 1936 9801Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
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Driver S, Gray S, Sikhondze W, Awuonda K, Wilcox H, Segrt A, Pandya L, Roth J, Makanga M, Lang T. The European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) Knowledge Hub: developing an open platform for facilitating high-quality clinical research. Trials 2022; 23:374. [PMID: 35526046 PMCID: PMC9077850 DOI: 10.1186/s13063-022-06311-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2021] [Accepted: 03/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
There is stark global inequity in health research in terms of where studies happen, who leads the research and the ultimate beneficiaries of the results generated. Despite significant efforts made, limited research ideas are conceptualised and implemented in low-resource settings to tackle diseases of poverty, and this is especially true in sub-Saharan Africa. There is strong evidence to show that the barriers to locally led research do not vary largely between disease, study type and location and can be largely solved by addressing these common gaps. The European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) was established in 2003 as a European response to the global health crisis caused by the three main poverty-related diseases HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. EDCTP has established a model of long-term sustainable capacity development integrated into clinical trials which addresses this lack of locally led research in sub-Saharan Africa, supporting the development of individual and institutional capacity and research outputs that change the management, prevention and treatment of poverty-related and neglected infectious diseases across Africa. In recognition of emergent data on what the barriers and enablers are to long-term, sustainable capabilities to run studies, EDCTP formed a new collaboration with The Global Health Network (TGHN) in September 2017, with the aim to make a set of cross-cutting tools and resources to support the planning, writing and delivery of high-quality clinical trials available to research staff wherever they are in the world, especially those in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) via TGHN platform. These new resources developed on the ‘EDCTP Knowledge Hub’ are those identified in the mixed method study described in this commentary as being key to addressing the gaps that the research community report as the most limiting elements in their ability to design and implement studies. The Knowledge Hub aims to make these tools freely available to any potential health research team in need of support and guidance in designing and running their own studies, particularly in low-resource settings. The purpose is to provide open access to the specific guidance, information and tools these teams cannot otherwise access freely. Ultimately, this will enable them to design and lead their own high-quality studies addressing local priorities with global alignment, generating new data that can change health outcomes in their communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel Driver
- Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7FZ, UK.
| | - Shan Gray
- Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7FZ, UK
| | - Welile Sikhondze
- National TB Control Program, Ministry of Health, Mbabane, Eswatini
| | - Ken Awuonda
- Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7FZ, UK
| | - Helena Wilcox
- Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7FZ, UK
| | - Alexis Segrt
- Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7FZ, UK
| | - Lara Pandya
- European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership, The Hague, The Netherlands
| | - Johanna Roth
- European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership, The Hague, The Netherlands
| | - Michael Makanga
- European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership, The Hague, The Netherlands
| | - Trudie Lang
- Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7FZ, UK
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Simcock IC, Reeve R, Burnett C, Costigan C, McNair H, Robinson C, Arthurs OJ. Clinical academic radiographers - A challenging but rewarding career. Radiography (Lond) 2021; 27 Suppl 1:S14-S19. [PMID: 34274226 DOI: 10.1016/j.radi.2021.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2021] [Revised: 05/11/2021] [Accepted: 06/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To explain what a clinical academic career can be, what it can lead to for the individual, profession and most importantly the patient, and why these roles are so important to radiography. KEY FINDINGS Multiple challenges to the adoption of clinical academic careers exist, including achievable measurable outcomes, visibility & senior support, and balancing different time demands. Equally the rewards are wide ranging and can advance both the individual and profession through role extension opportunities, increased career progression, patient benefits, and academic and research skills. CONCLUSION Clinical academic careers can provide advantages for the individual, department, profession and most importantly the patient with advanced clinical practice through evidenced based research. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE Improving clinical academic careers within Radiography will promote research participation and increase radiographic roles in patient-centred research delivery and development. Combining evidenced based research with academic skills will lead to improved patient care and better clinical outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- I C Simcock
- Department of Clinical Radiology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK; UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK; National Institute of Health Research, Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK.
| | - R Reeve
- Diagnostic Imaging Department, Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, Portsmouth, UK; University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
| | - C Burnett
- Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, UK; Leeds Institute of Medical Research, University of Leeds, UK; Leeds National Institute of Health Research Biomedical Research Centre, UK.
| | - C Costigan
- Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham, UK; National Institute of Health Research, Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
| | - H McNair
- Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK.
| | - C Robinson
- University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Infirmary Square, Leicester, UK.
| | - O J Arthurs
- Department of Clinical Radiology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK; UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK; National Institute of Health Research, Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK.
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Abstract
Research collaborations, especially long-distance and international collaborations, have become increasingly prevalent worldwide. Recent studies highlighted the significant role of research leadership in collaborations. However, existing measures of the research leadership do not take into account the intensity of leadership in the co-authorship network. More importantly, the spatial features, which influence the collaboration patterns and research outcomes, have not been incorporated in measuring the research leadership. To fill the gap, we construct an institution-level weighted co-authorship network that integrates two types of weight on the edges: the intensity of collaborations and the spatial score (the geographical distance adjusted by the cross-linguistic-border nature). Based on this network, we propose a novel metric, namely the spatial research leadership rank, to identify the leading institutions while considering both the collaboration intensity and the spatial features. The leadership of an institution is measured by the following three criteria: (a) the institution frequently plays the corresponding rule in papers with other institutions; (b) the institution frequently plays the corresponding rule in longer distance and even cross-linguistic-border collaborations; (c) the participating institutions led by the institution have high leadership status themselves. Harnessing a dataset of 323,146 journal publications in pharmaceutical sciences during 2010-2018, we perform a comprehensive analysis of the geographical distribution and dynamic patterns of research leadership flows at the institution level. The results demonstrate that the SpatialLeaderRank outperforms baseline metrics in predicting the scholarly impact of institutions. And the result remains robust in the field of Information Science and Library Science. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11192-021-03943-w.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chaocheng He
- School of Information Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei China.,School of Data Science, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
| | - Jiang Wu
- School of Information Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei China
| | - Qingpeng Zhang
- School of Data Science, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
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Begley C, McCarron M, Huntley-Moore S, Condell S, Higgins A. Successful research capacity building in academic nursing and midwifery in Ireland: an exemplar. Nurse Educ Today 2014; 34:754-760. [PMID: 24156983 DOI: 10.1016/j.nedt.2013.09.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2013] [Revised: 09/02/2013] [Accepted: 09/10/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Nursing and midwifery education have comparatively recently moved into academia in Ireland. In 2002, nurse tutors who were qualified to Master's degree level assimilated into the third-level sector. Only 11 of the 35 staff (31%) in one university School held, or were undertaking, a PhD. In 2006, children's nursing and midwifery tutors also moved into third-level institutions. The culture of all assimilating tutors was focussed on teaching, rather than research. OBJECTIVES The School set ambitious plans to develop the research abilities of all academics, setting the goal that 75% of academic staff would either hold, or be undertaking, a PhD by 2010. Objectives were also set to increase external research funding, peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations. METHODS A combination of sabbatical leaves, student stipends and periods of reduced teaching load was introduced to provide staff with protected time for doctoral studies. Funding for conference and research expenses was provided, based on the previous year's research output of publications, conference presentations and external funding submissions. RESULTS By October 2010, 79% of the 66 School staff either had (n=23), or were conducting (n=29), PhDs, surpassing goals set. Peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations had increased by >20% per year and external research funding totalled €6,351,101 for the previous 5 years. CONCLUSIONS Strong research leadership, generous support and liberal encouragement can change a predominantly teaching-focussed culture to one of academic research excellence. This increase in research expertise will lead to better patient/client care and improved education of nursing and midwifery students.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cecily Begley
- School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
| | - Mary McCarron
- School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
| | | | - Sarah Condell
- School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
| | - Agnes Higgins
- School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
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