Better Research for Better Health: University of Oxford and Fiocruz partner to improve health research and capacity development globally

Survey launched to understand clinical and research impact of INTERGROWTH-21st tools after 170,000 downloads

Inovio Announces First Subject Dosed with its DNA-Encoded Monoclonal Antibody (dMAb™) In First-Ever Human Trial

Webinar: Pregnant Women & Vaccines Against Emerging Epidemic Threats: Ethics Guidance for Preparedness, Research, and Response, 5 March 2019

Within the Zika virus (ZIKV) research community, a new and remarkable kind of collaboration is taking place

Professor Trudie Lang discusses 'The afterlives of Zika: Policy, science and civil society in public health'

Summary of two-day international workshop on new challenges in research ethics in Lima, Peru, August 2018

Webinar on community engagement in clinical research involving pregnant women

4 EU-funded Zika consortia met in Marseille during the International Symposium to discuss a common strategy for vaccine development

World Health Day at The Global Health Network

To celebrate World Health Day The Global Health Network is hosting a week of e-seminars, e-workshops and interviews that will discuss the operational, methodological and capacity challenges that impede health research in LMICs, and how to overcome common barriers.

Medical education videos available on the Network

Lecturio is a leading international eLearning platform for medical video education, serving students as well as universities and medical institutions. To offer best-in-class online medical courses, they work with hand-picked, renowned medical instructors from universities all over the world, and are offering their courses for free to all Global Health Network users.

Pragmatism in practice: lessons learned during screening and enrollment for a randomised controlled trial in rural northern Ethiopia

We use the example of the Gojjam Lymphoedema Best Practice Trial (GoLBeT), a pragmatic trial in a remote rural setting in northern Ethiopia, to extract lessons relevant to other investigators balancing the demands of practicality and community acceptability with internal and external validity in clinical trials.

Open Public Consultation on “Strengthened cooperation against vaccine preventable diseases”

The European Commission is looking into ways to support  EU member states to address re-emerging preventable diseases and to increase vaccine coverage in Europe. This policy discussion is set against the background of an increase of vaccination hesitancy in several countries, vaccines shortages and vaccines R&D challenges. As part of this process, The European Commission has launched a public consultation.

Consortia wide exercise to agree on a core curriculum for observational, laboratory and clinical trials

REDe Webinar: How to plan and deliver quality assured data clinical research study, November 2017

Webinar: How to plan and deliver quality assured data in a clinical research study

The Global Health Network roundup ECTMIH 2017 conference

The Global Health Network showcased its work at the recent ECTMIH 2017 conference in Antwerp. It was a pleasure to meet so many researchers working across varied areas of Global Health. Many thanks to those of you who stopped by the exhibition stand. There was a lot of interest in the network with over 250 signups for more information as well as many great conversations about our online tools and member-sites. Many of you shared some great suggestions for areas to look to develop further such as health economics and NTDs as well as ideas for new eLearning courses.

Regional faculties: building capacity for research

To highlight the types of activities run by The Global Health Network's innovative regional faculties, and how those can raise the capacity for research, dedicated faculty leaders Glory Oluwagbenga Ogunfowokun (Nigeria) and Jackeline Alger (Honduras) have created these video interviews

Spread of Chikungunya Virus East/Central/South African Genotype in Northeast Brazil

Abstract We investigated an outbreak of exanthematous illness in Maceió by using molecular surveillance; 76% of samples tested positive for chikungunya virus. Genetic analysis of 23 newly generated genomes identified the East/Central/South African genotype, suggesting that this lineage has persisted since mid-2014 in Brazil and may spread in the Americas and beyond.

An introduction to cross-cutting clinical research network to support the EU funded Zika studies

REDe guide to Data Quality and Reciprocal Monitoring launched

ZIKAlliance’s Clinical Meeting in Cuba 12-14 August, 2017

REDe holds first workshops in Brazil

Quality Assurance Plan for Clinical Research Studies: A Template and Guide

All research studies on human subjects should have a level of quality and ethical standard assurance built into their operations to ensure that that the rights and well-being of human subjects are protected and that the data are reliable. This combined template and guide assists research teams in developing a QA plan for their study.

The REDe Guide to Clinical Research Practical Data Quality Monitoring

This guide will set out why quality management and monitoring is important and how it can be easily and practically built into a study. 

How to set up an In-House Monitoring Scheme

A coherent four step plan for implementing in-house or reciprocal monitoring systems at a research site

Reciprocal Monitoring: A proven and practical approach to quality management within research networks and centres

There has been a trend over recent years towards the use of expensive contract organisations to monitor research studies and this can be expensive and is not necessary. This overview explains the reasons for reciprocal monitoring, and how it can benefit research groups.

The REDe Guide to Clinical Research Practical Quality Monitoring

One of the goals of the REDe network is to support the conduct of high quality research by providing tools, training and guidance in all the elements that are required. A very fundamental, but often overlooked, piece in this is the planning and implementation of research quality management (which is often referred to as monitoring).

Successful technology transfer of a Zika vaccine developed by Institut Pasteur Shanghai-Chinese Academy of Sciences (IPS-CAS) to Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products Co., Ltd.

Institut Pasteur Shanghai-Chinese Academy of Sciences (IPS-CAS), a partner of the ZIKAlliance consortium, announced that it has entered into a collaborative research agreement with Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products Stock Co., Ltd. (Zhifei) for the clinical studies and commercialization of a recombinant Zika virus subunit vaccine developed by IPS-CAS.

Call for support - Global Vector Control Response grant application

In response to the recent World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Vector Control Response document (http://www.who.int/malaria/global-vector-control-response/en/), ARCTEC at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is working with The Global Health Network, the WHO and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop an exciting new initiative called The Global Vector Hub. The project is being part-funded by an EU H2020 grant as part of the recently formed ZikaPLAN consortium.  We have been invited by the Wellcome Trust to submit an application for a Biomedical Resource and Technology Development Grant to help fund the website. We have successfully advanced through the first round of grant proposals. The full application is now being prepared and is due for submission on 3rd April, 2017. To demonstrate the need for the Global Vector Hub, we are collecting letters of support from potential stakeholders. It would be great if you could distribute this e-mail to your contacts and ask them to provide letters of support.

Risk of microcephaly after Zika virus infection in Brazil, 2015 to 2016

Based on the reported data from Brazil in 2015/16, this publication describes a plausible range for the risk of microcephaly in women who were infected with Zika virus during pregnancy compared to those who were not infected. The key message is that the large uncertainty around the risk estimate needs to be further investigated because of a) the possible existence of co-factors that are yet to be validated, b) the assumptions that need be made for the proportion of women who were infected during pregnancy.

Funding available for the SPSAS in Arbovirology in Brazil

Health research capacity development in low and middle income countries: reality or rhetoric?

There has been steady progress in LMIC health research capacity, but major barriers to research persist and more empirical evidence on development strategies is required.

Study of volunteer blood donors in Martinique provides new information about Zika virus infection

This pioneering study provides a precise follow-up of incident cases and seroprevalence in blood donors, and it also provides important insights into the management of blood donations during ZIKV outbreaks and into the natural history of ZIKV infection in adults. It suggests that the study of blood donors during outbreaks of emerging pathogens has become a key element of epidemiological surveillance.

Axl Mediates ZIKA Virus Entry in Human Glial Cells and Modulates Innate Immune Responses

A study performed by the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) team of Dr Ali Amara (U944, Paris, France) and published in Cell Reports sheds new light on the mechanisms allowing ZIKV to infect cells within the human nervous system. Amara et al. showed that the protein Axl is expressed in a number of brain glial cells and that the entry of ZIKV into these cells requires another protein, Gas6, to act as a bridge between the ZIKV particles and the glial cells.

Global Health Research in an Unequal World: Ethics Case Studies from Africa

This book is a collection of fictionalised case studies of everyday ethical dilemmas and challenges, encountered in the process of conducting global health research in places where the effects of global, political and economic inequality are particularly evident. 

Research Administration and Grant Management

Links to resources provided by iRIM (the Initiative on Research and Innovation Management) - free online presentations and tutorials relating to how to manage grants and perform administration of clinical research projects effectively.

Monitoring - A Gradual Process

New to monitoring clinical research trials? Ogundokun Olusegun outlines some of the responsibilities and tasks that the role involves, from revieiwing sites and managing research centers to the lifestyle pressures on the road.

Reciprocal Monitoring Scheme Guidance

This article explains how an East Africa Research Group have developed and applied a highly pragmatic an effective monitoring system. This group train research staff to monitor or perform QC on studies and then implement a system of reciprocal monitoring between studies. It is cost effective and works well.

Clinical Trial Monitoring

What is the definition of clinical trial monitoring? Who can be a monitor? What are the monitor's roles and responsibilities? Read on for some answers.