26/01/2021
GloPID-R publications in 3 leading Journals
‘Coordinating research on pandemic preparedness and rapid response’ by GloPID-R Chair, Charu Kaushic and Geneviève Boily-Larouche, CIHR Institute of Infection and Immunity was published on December 17, 2020 by Open Access Government.
Drawing on the experience gathered during the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors present the lessons learnt for global coordination among research funders and highlight the importance of the involvement of national funders for rapid funding; the need to fully understand the funding landscape and to track funded projects against research priorities; and the value of visibility of funded research to foster collaboration and insights between researchers.
GloPID-R’s work alongside the WHO and the cooperation with the UK Collaborative on Development Research (UKCDR) are also underlined as key to the research response to the pandemic.
Drs Kaushic and Boily-Larouche conclude that to end this pandemic and to be better prepared for future public health emergencies, it is vital to build strong collaborative mechanisms and relationships between stakeholders and with industry; to raise awareness, strengthen preparedness research and to adopt a One-Health approach.
In ‘A living mapping review for COVID-19 funded research projects: three-month update’ published by Wellcome Open Research on December 18, 2020, Alice Norton, Adrian Bucher, Emilia Antonio et al provide an updated detailed descriptive analysis of this UKCDR – GloPID-R live database.
The analysis focuses on research gaps, research areas in need of coordination, study populations and research locations (most particularly, resource-limited countries). The aim is that by using this living mapping review, funders and researchers will more easily be able to prioritize research resources to underfunded areas where the need is greatest and future strategic collaboration will be facilitated.
In the paper ‘Integrating the social sciences in epidemic preparedness and response: A strategic framework to strengthen capacities and improve Global Health security’ published in BMC on December 30, 2020, Kevin Bardosh, Daniel H. de Vries, Sharon Abramowitz et al present the results of a study commissioned for the GloPID-R Funders’ Forum on Social Science Research for Infectious Disease.
The authors point out the integration of the social sciences in epidemic preparedness and response remains “inadequate, fragmented and under-funded, with limited reach and small initial investments”. Using data collected before the COVID-19 pandemic, the barriers to the full integration of the social sciences in epidemic preparedness and response are analyzed and the authors present a strategic framework for addressing them.
