22/11/2023
Mapping regional funding for COVID-19 research in the Asia-Pacific region
In an article published in BMJ Global Health, the GloPID-R Research & Policy team present the results of collaborative mapping research undertaken in support of the development of the GloPID-R Asia-Pacific Regional Hub.
The authors provide an analytical overview of the diverse funders and sources of funding for COVID-19 research in this area of the globe. Up to now, there have been no studies mapping the scope of COVID-19 research and research funders in the Asia-Pacific region, which is especially prone to the emergence and spread of epidemic-prone pathogens.
To identify research funders supporting research on infectious diseases in the region, the authors undertook an analysis of five COVID-19 research databases including analyzing data from the COVID-19 Research Project Tracker developed by UKCDR and GloPID-R. They assessed the alignment of funded projects to the WHO global COVID-19 research priorities. A total of 453 funders and funding sources were identified as supporting COVID-19 research in the Asia-Pacific Region. These included public, private and philanthropic organizations, and universities.
The article concludes that engagement between multiple actors in the health research system is important to foster improved coordination for greater research impact.
This publication was co-authored with Dr. Choong-Min Ryu and Jieun Lee (Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, the representative of GloPID-R member National Research Foundation of South Korea), who are leading the Asia-Pacific Hub to define regional research priorities and identify research gaps.
GloPID-R’s regional hub strategy is based on establishing 4 hubs across the globe. It is designed to improve coordination of research funders and strengthen stakeholder engagement, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries.
