The Global Health Network Impact Report 2020

Impact Report
June 2020
Better Research for
Better Health
Impact Report 2020
www.theglobalhealthnetwork.org | 1

Contents
02
Executive Summary
04
Why We Need to Support the
Whole Research Ecosystem
06
Exchanging Research Know-How
Through Communities of Practice
08
Raising Standards and Quality
10
Increasing Capacity;
Building Lasting, Capable Teams
12
Intergrating Networks for
Lasting Research Capabilities
15
Leveraging Value for Research
Funders and Sponsors
Executive Summary
The Global Health Network has developed a successful,
proven approach to enable more, faster and better research in
communities, settings and diseases where evidence is lacking.
Over the past decade The Global Health Network has grown
organically, through two highly integrated mechanisms for
knowledge sharing and research capability building. This has
resulted in research teams across projects and geographies
exchanging their tacit ‘how-to’, allowing others to learn
from their processes and experience. Key to the success
of this platform is the provision of open tools, training and
professional development mechanisms to enable research
staff to access the templates, guidance and training they need
to conduct high quality research studies wherever they are in
the world, and to develop their careers and competencies.
Many international partners and collaborators contribute to
The Global Health Network, widening the ability of each to
share methods, new processes, and cross-cutting support that
improves the design, planning and delivery of studies and then
facilitates evidence uptake into policy and practice. Together
each of the component elements leverage and add value
to one other, and therefore the impact of The Global Health
Network is greater than the sum of each part.
The Global Health Network also conducts research to
understand the barriers and enablers to running quality
studies in challenging settings and asks these questions at
an individual, institutional and international level. The Global
Health Network has gathered evidence from over 7000
researchers and health workers from across the world, from
a range of research roles and multiple disciplines, who have
taken part in our studies. Our findings show how barriers and
challenges are not singular or isolated, but rather a range of
systemic interrelated issues that are shaping and restraining
the research landscape across low- and middle-income
countries. This ongoing research iteratively guides our work,
ensuring The Global Health Network is addressing the gaps
that impede locally led research.
This report demonstrates the impact of facilitating knowledge
exchange and providing guidance to health research teams
by providing data on the volume and scale of uptake of The
Global Health Network alongside specific examples that show
precisely how this supports faster, better and easier research.
2 | www.theglobalhealthnetwork.org Impact Report 2020

Summary of Quantative Impact Data
28.8 million
visits to theglobalhealthnetwork.org
16 million from Africa, Latin America and
Asia
380,000+
templates, tools and resources
downloaded
265,000+
registered members in our global
community, representing a full range of
research disciplines and roles in global
health research
3,700
pages of information including 2300
guidance articles and 1300 blog posts
1.3 million+
online training modules taken
1.3 million+
online training modules taken
Map of Users
Page Views 3,900,254
1
Figure 1: Heat map showing the global frequency of visitors to The Global Health Network in the past ten years.
You have assisted our clinical trials group from setting up documentation, databases, basic formats of protocols, information
and consent materials, trial oversight committees, GCP training, monitoring capabilities, field worker training to name just
a few. The multiplier effect of this rigorous framework has rippled through many of our interactions with trial networks in
the region and across Africa, and your network has helped us to establish local leadership at multiple levels, from senior
investigators to clinical trial assistant and field teams.
Director, Research Institute, UK
I love this site. Thanks so much for contributing to the education of clinical research and subject protection. This investment
advances medicine and improves lives. Thank you!
Survey Respondent, Global Health Trials
The Global Health Network assists research and bridges gaps in knowledge.
Knowledge Gap Analysis Survey Respondent, Brazil
Impact Report 2020
www.theglobalhealthnetwork.org | 3

Why We Need to Support the Whole Research
Ecosystem
To tackle a disease all types of health research studies are needed. For maximum efficiency, knowledge should flow easily and quickly
between each and so function as an ecosystem.
This is true for all diseases but is especially relevant to outbreaks and is evident in the current COVID-19 pandemic. In novel outbreaks
there are many unknowns including disease characterisation and treatment and therefore research evidence must be generated rapidly,
requiring collaborations across fields such as genetics, vector biology, microbiology, social science and epidemiology. Many of the skills
and capabilities required are common across these disciplines in designing and operating studies and reporting quality data. Where
outbreaks occur in settings with limited health capacity and low research experience, the need for a complete ecosystem of research
capabilities is more apparent in order to tackle the everyday diseases of poverty, thus creating the local ability to respond and undertake
research in outbreaks.
Exploring the barriers and enablers for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to conduct and lead high quality health research
studies shows that the few centres of excellence that exist have built teams that can conduct all types of health research studies.
Researchers responding to a knowledge gap analysis study identified that “parachute research” dominates most health research in
LMICs, characterised by standalone studies led by an external sponsor. In addition, previous capacity building efforts have typically
focussed only on Principle Investigators, therefore a gap remains in capability and skills. The Global Health Network’s data shows that
these gaps are largely similar irrespective of the type of research and so span the research ecosystem.
Lack of training on the
importance of doing research
or attending training
pertaining to research issues.
Laboratory Manager,
Tanzania
Building local capacity of
collaborating centres in
developing countries for
quality clinical trials conduct.
Investigator, South Korea
I would like to learn a lot
about statistical models in
order to be able to compare
and imprive the performance
of the results.
Survey Respondent, Brazil
Better developed leaders
and better communication
skills so that resources,
projects and research are
managed well and that staff
are kept motivated and
treated with respect.
Survey Respondent
The Global Health Network uniquely engages the entire research team and across all the stages needed to generate quality data,
from setting the research question, study design, to operational planning, data management, quality assurance, laboratory standards,
community engagement and translating evidence into policy and practice. Equally, all research data, irrespective of the type of
study, must be of high quality as well as safe and ethical. In this way, The Global Health Network addresses the barriers described
by researchers by giving open access to the knowledge, processes and methods needed for researchers to design and implement
research studies in their setting, alongside the training and skills development that result in lasting, capable teams of all roles and at
all levels. This unique approach brings together all research roles and researchers conducting all types of health research study from
interventional studies (35% of users), observational studies (24% of users) and surveillance and epidemiology (21% of users) to social
sciences, implementation research and more. This is further evidenced in the high access across all aspects of the platform, in particular
the Global Health Training Centre, as described later in this report, knowledge hubs focussed on laboratories (Global Health Laboratories)
and diagnostics, public and community engagement (MESH), research ethics (Global Health Bioethics) and the many research consortia
collaborating with The Global Health Network.
4 | www.theglobalhealthnetwork.org Impact Report 2020

Roles of Researchers Accessing the Global Health Network
Public Health Professional
Research Coordinator
Investigator
Student
Academic
Senior Investigator
Clinical Research Associate
Project Manager
Physician
Pharmacist
Nurse
Laboratory Staff
Social Scientist
14%
13%
13%
10%
9%
8%
6%
5%
3%
2%
2%
2%
1%
Figure 2: Chart displaying the roles of researchers accessing The Global Health Network
Registered Members Come from Many Different Organisations
Hospital
University / School
Public Health Body
CRO
NGO
Private Clinic
Research Institute
Laboratory
Research Site / Centre
Medical Research Foundation
Gov Health Department
Pharma Company
Health Innovations
38%
29%
10%
4%
4%
4%
2%
2%
2%
2%
2%
1%
1%
Figure 3: Registered members of The Global Health Network grouped by organisational affiliation, based on an analysis of email
suffixes to identify organisations which were then classified (n=178,663: approximately 70% of The Global Health Network’s
registered members) as of 30 April 2020
The acute need for research to be considered as an ecosystems view was especially evident during the Zika outbreak where research
priorities ranged from vector biology, to characterising Zika infection, through to risk, and all required strong public and community
engagement and research ethics to underpin research. As the epidemic progressed, it was important to rapidly translate the high
volumes of research evidence into policy and practice to ultimately improve health. The Global Health Network’s approach in working
across the research ecosystem was successfully applied with the European Union-funded Zika consortia to enable rapid knowledge
exchange and sharing of processes across Latin America, including uptake of the INTERGROWTH-21st growth standards and charts,
described later in this report.
Impact Report 2020
www.theglobalhealthnetwork.org | 5

[MESH’s] position embedded within the larger
community of The Global Health Network
enables us to share resources with thousands
of researchers we would not otherwise reach.
Knowledge Hub Coordinator, UK
We have been extensively used [sic] resources
put together by The Global Health Network
for online training, exchange of experience
and communication among others. I really
believe that with their leadership skills we
have improved the ability of young health
professionals to draw and run quality
research embedded in health activities.
Researcher, Brazil
The Global Health Network has reduced
duplication and enabled studies to be rapidly
established as we learn from and connect
with groups focussed on similar health
challenges to exchange knowledge across
Africa and the world.
Director, Research Institute, Rwanda
The Global Health Network brought access to
research tools that we adaptation [sic] for our
own use, at no cost to MCRI and individual
researchers. Our research site has been
highly commended for producing high quality
data for instance in our clinical trials, we
achieve study participant adherence to follow
up rates of 100% on day 28 and over 97% at 6
month follow up. The level of competence of
my research team is commendable.
Director, Research Institute, Uganda
Exchanging Research
Know-How Through
Communities of Practice
The Global Health Network hosts 50 interconnected knowledge
hubs where researchers and teams share data, guidance, methods
and experience within their programmes, across networks, between
collaborators and with the wider research community.
The knowledge hubs are organised around seven complementary and
integrated thematic areas that help make the information discoverable. Each
hub is led and managed by its own community of practice and is set up in
such a way as to provide focussed and highly functional virtual workspaces
for organisations such as WHO (Epidemics Ethics), Wellcome (MESH), Fiocruz,
and consortia funded by the European Union (REDe, ZikaPLAN, ZikAlliance),
the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP)
(ALERRT, TESA, WANETAM, CANTAM and EACCR) and others to work in an
open, neutral and collaborative where researchers and teams can contribute
and others can find examples of good practice to build from.
The Harvard theory of communities of practice tells us that people share what
works. The Global Health Network uses highly functional digital infrastructure
as a vehicle for thriving communities of practice to form. Just as important as
the technology is the experience gained over ten years of how to facilitate,
enable and persuade research teams to share best practice and how to
actively nurture these communities of practice.
The value and impact from each of these communities is that ‘how-to’ advice,
tools, processes and methods flow in vast quantities between disease
areas, topics, regions and organisations. Specifically, each of the 380,000
documents downloaded represents a team that have not had to start from
scratch but have instead built on the success of others in terms of a process,
protocol or template operating procedure. In this way, the access and uptake
of The Global Health Network has directly enabled easier, faster and better
research by sharing know-how.
The useful tools/guideline/template are
available for free-download; these can be
adapted and used to make research easier
and better. They save a lot of time and
research effort of my team.
Professor, India
6 | www.theglobalhealthnetwork.org Impact Report 2020

Covid-19 Research Implementation and
Knowledge Hub
In the current COVID-19 pandemic research is needed across
the globe and the opportunity to run studies and to benefit
from evidence gained should be equitable. Through the
COVID-19 Research Implementation and Knowledge Hub, The
Global Health Network is actively facilitating the determination
of research priorities and gaps across seven research areas,
alongside giving access to information, training, tools and
templates to initiate studies in each of these areas.
This COVID-19 Hub is also leading a programme of open
workshops with research organisations tackling different
aspects of the pandemic. These workshops have immediately
enabled researchers from diverse settings to reach
consensus on priority areas and where gaps lie and to form
collaborations. As a direct outcome of the workshops seven
working groups have been established across the research
areas, each facilitating new research and generating tools
to address the gaps. This has also led to a crowdsourcing
initiative where research groups are contributing approaches,
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and training resources
to support faster and better implementation of research
studies.
• Over 300,000 visits to coronavirus.tghn.org
• More than 20,000 COVID-19 outbreak resources
downloaded including Case Report Forms, Clinical
Characterisation Protocols and ethics approval requests
templates
• An ongoing programme of workshops, with 12
workshops, and over 2000 attendees from 100
countries as of 21 May 2020
• Leading to the development of seven open working
groups with 445 researchers from at least 81 countries;
each finding solutions for specific research areas (All data
as of 21 May 2020)
The International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging
Infection Consortium (ISARIC) shares COVID-19 research
resources including Case Report Forms and Clinical
Characterisation Protocols openly through the COVID-19 Hub.
Promoting standardisation by openly sharing these resources
has reduced duplication and driven efficiency in the research
response to COVID-19 across the world.
In May 2020, UK global health funders, through the UK
Collaborative on Development Research (UKCDR), asked The
Global Health Network to undertake a survey to determine
current consensus as to the research priorities for COVID-19
and therefore whether the WHO’s priorities for COVID-19
research are applicable across the globe. The African
Academy of Sciences had already conducted a strong survey
across Africa and by taking these questions and leveraging
The Global Health Network’s extensive global audiences, this
was widened to be global and translated to French, Spanish
and Portuguese. At the time of publication 1300 responses
had been received from 104 countries. The findings will be
rapidly analysed rapidly and reported to this group of funders
and the data then used to guide funding calls and decisions to
meet the priorities determined through this research.
This joint collaboration in research to address the
current situation is highly appreciated.
Researcher, Pakistan
Thank you for this information. It will really help to
raise awareness in this time of global emergency.
This joint collaboration in research to address the
current situation is highly appreciated.
Workshop Attendee
Impact Report 2020
www.theglobalhealthnetwork.org | 7

My general site preparedness for ACT-
TB trial was in part also facilitated by
ready availability of templates for various
documents within Downloadable Templates
and Tools for Clinical Research section. Based
on these, I was able to set up a complete
trial master file, develop standard operating
procedures for each process, and deliver
targeted training to study team. These
are tools and templates that normally get
handed down from researcher to researcher
within chains of connections one may have...
making it hard for those living in areas where
limited expertise exists or those with limited
own experience. The Global Health Network
is the site I now refer people to when they
get grants. You did not collect ACT-TB data
but without your high quality training, data
management standards, data quality control
and assurance tools, and various standardsetting
tools, I would not have achieved
the quality data I will be delivering to the
scientific community.
Principle Investigator, Malawi
One can find templates and tools quickly.
It means people don’t have to spend much
time making new forms, when we can just
download and modify to meet our needs.
Trial Coordinator, Ethiopia
Raising
Standards
and Quality
The knowledge hubs and associated communities of practice are a strong
mechanism for raising standards and quality as each specific knowledge
hub facilitated the exchange of thousands of protocols, templates and
experiences that drive improvements in health research. By delivering the
knowledge hubs with the health research community, The Global Health
Network is able to identify specific needs and gaps through consultation with
those who use the platform and then meet those needs.
While data sharing is widely recognised as enabling faster evidence
generation, considerable confusion remains around what it means to share
data, how it can be achieved and how to overcome potential barriers.
Research data management and data sharing was identified as an area
where additional guidance and training is needed by 97% of people
responding to The Global Health Network’s surveys (knowledge gap
analysis). Through the Global Health Data Management Knowledge Hub, The
Global Health Network is meeting this need by delivering toolkits that provide
guidance and by promoting shared learning on managing and sharing good
quality data. The community of practice comes together through a dedicated
knowledge hub for data management which promotes exchange of methods,
led by a steering committee of data managers brought together by Wellcome
and the Medical Research Council (MRC) through programmes in Africa and
Asia. This delivers a higher return on the investment Wellcome is making in
its programmes by bringing better standards and quality practices to other
research studies and groups.
The know-how and experience that is shared through this network is greatly
enhanced by an extensive suite of toolkits and resources developed in
partnership with EDCTP and made openly available in the EDCTP Knowledge
Hub that deliver both stepwise and standalone practical support including for
protocol development, data management and data sharing that specifically
meets this need for “basic data analysis tools with information on when to
use what”. Together the Protocol Development Toolkit, Data Management
Portal and Data Sharing Toolkit have been visited over 17,000 times by visitors
from 110 countries, including high uptake in countries with active EDCTP
programmes. Each element actively promotes collaboration; in particular,
the Concept Protocol Tool enables researchers from diverse settings to
invite feedback and discuss protocol development with peers, all delivered
in an online resource-rich environment to facilitate the rapid translation of a
concept protocol into high-quality research studies.
This vast array of guidance, methods, tools and templates available through
The Global Health Network can be accessed via the Process Map as a single
8 | www.theglobalhealthnetwork.org Impact Report 2020

gateway. This is the first digital toolkit to enable researchers to initiate
rigorous global health research by guiding researchers through the major
steps of establishing and delivering a research study. The Process Map
leverages the wealth of resources, tools and training that is developed by
the health research community through The Global Health Network and
from trusted organisations such as the WHO, Centres for Disease Control
and Prevention and the MRCl, enabling access to information at each stage
of a research study. Since the Process Map was launched in 2014 it has
attracted over 27,000 visits from 172 countries with particularly high uptake
across Africa, Asia and Latin America. The Process Map was developed and is
reviewed continually in collaboration with researchers from all settings.
These are some example of the extensive and wide-ranging templates made
openly available across The Global Health Network, from protocols, risk
assessment, SOPs, consent forms and checklists and together these have
been downloaded over 380,000 times. Each download represents reduced
duplication, improved quality through sharing and ultimately faster and better
research.
Case Study
Improving Patient
Retention in Pregnancy
Cohort Studies
During the Zika outbreak, cohort studies set up in response to ZIKV
across Latin America were struggling to retain pregnant women in
their studies and were losing them in later visits as their pregnancies
progressed. In an effort to address this, The Global Health Network
organised for Dr Titus Divala (Blantyre Malaria Project, University
of Malawi College of Medicine, Blantyre, Malawi) to share their
experience with pregnancy studies in TB. They too had experienced
loss to follow up in their early studies and had tackled this by building
strong community engagement strategies and slowly succeeded in
gaining the trust within the communities. This shared the approaches
and lessons from Malawi and the study teams in Latin America found
this valuable and implemented these approaches in their studies. The
research excellence developed by the team in Malawi and funded
by Wellcome was transferred to Brazil to benefit and raise research
quality during the Zika outbreak.
Thank you for this discussion which helped
us to know more about such differences
between data manager and database
developer… maybe we can think to write a
document to explain all terms used in data
management.
Member of Global Health Data Management,
discussing the skills required for good data
management
I would like to know if some of you use data
collection sheet, or patient record/database,
so I want to say a documentation (source
documentation) where you write all the
activity that you make with patient during
the Site Visit, performed in accord with the
protocol and the Sponsor.
Member of Global Research Nurses, sharing
experience of using template study documents
downloaded from Global Health Trials
Nurses… often have research questions
they want to work on but due to a lack
of resources and a high workload nurses
therefore don’t pursue research. However,
with the help of the Process Map, a nurse or
other healthcare professional can get a basic
understanding of how to initiate research and
can follow the Process Map to conduct a trial.
Research Nurse, India
The Process Map show the complex – yet
interactive – nature of developing a clinical
trial but in a way that’s simple to navigate. I
haven’t seen anything like this before.
Associate Professor, Nigeria
Impact Report 2020
www.theglobalhealthnetwork.org | 9

The considerable online training due to
limited resources and opportunities to do
face to face training, have made an important
difference to extend research ethics and
methodology knowledge and practices in
Honduras.
Researcher, Honduras
[I] am greatly thankful to the GHN eLearning
centre for providing scientists and medical
practitioners with a platform that has a
massive impact in knowledge and value
additions for health and research in low- and
middle-income countries.
Course User, Good Clinical Laboratory Practice
The online courses offered at TGHN are
very valuable, particularly for settings where
no on-site courses of that high quality are
available and there is no funding to purchase
licenses for online courses.
Survey Respondent
Quality assurance and quality control and
safety on the laboratory is one of the courses
highly needed to our lab if we get some
members get trained for this an increased a
pool of staff with the verified training.
Knowledge Gap Analysis Survey Respondent
Increasing Capacity;
Building Lasting, Capable
Teams
In 2013 the WHO stated that unless low-income nations generate their
own evidence, there will never be true and lasting improvements to the
public health in these nations. In 2020, the world is still some way from this
goal, with there still being a lack of local investigator-led research being
undertaken in these nations. Typical approaches to address this in the past
have been to build capacity development into protocols and grants. This has
largely only resulted in teams being trained to collect data on one study, in
one disease area for one product development activity.
The Global Health Network brings a novel and unique approach that embeds
research excellence within healthcare settings by supporting teams to
develop the skills and capabilities to conduct high-quality research and
generate internationally competitive data. This long-lasting capability had
resulted in teams being awarded grants, attracting collaborations, all while
generating robust data that is changing health outcomes.
Delivering Research Skills Training
The most highly accessed aspect of The Global Health Network is the Training
Centre, providing free and open online training and an extensive programme
of face-to-face activities to introduce research and research skills. These
initiatives span the general skills needed to establish high-quality research
studies, to specific diagnostic criteria or protocols that ensure standardisation
of research within or between studies.
Together these programmes meet training and knowledge gaps specifically
identified by researchers who use The Global Health Network, who report
more limited experience in all types of study set-up and management,
trial design, data management and data sharing, and more experience in
research ethics but who request opportunities to strengthen research ethics
training and skills nonetheless.
The Top 5 Most Used e-Learning Courses on the Global Health Training Centre
Courses Title Number of e-Learners (as of 30 April 2020)
ICH Good Clinical Practice 132,610
Introduction to Clinical Research 28,617
Research Ethics Online Training 21,607
Introduction to Good Clinical Laboratory Practice 15,504
ICH Good Clinical Practice (Spanish) 13,370
10 | www.theglobalhealthnetwork.org Impact Report 2020

Through the Global Health Training Centre, The Global Health Network has
developed 127 courses, including 84 translations which are available in nine
languages, with partners including the WHO, the Multi-Regional Clinical Trials
Centre at Harvard University, the Geneva Foundation for Medical Education
and Research, Nuffield Council for Bioethics and many more.
The courses with the highest usage are largely reflective of the knowledge
gaps identified and have exceptional global uptake; across the Training Centre
over 1.3 million research modules have now been taken.
Developing Research Careers
To support researchers and teams in capturing and assessing skills, The
Global Health Network has developed a comprehensive career development
programme with the WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in
Tropical Diseases. The Professional Development Scheme measures research
competencies in teams and individuals to track progress, skills and capability
development over time, as well as generating data on the impact of capacity
development initiatives.
The Professional Development Scheme was designed to address the lack of
recognition for working in research and the lack of career structure for roles
such as trial managers, research nurses and local healthcare workers. 8,500
researchers and health professionals are using this scheme to record their
skills, track development and identify gaps in their knowledge.
Professional Membership Development Scheme Membership
Frequency
348
These rare resources enable The Global
Health Network to continue with its Capacity
Development and process improvement
initiatives through regional and online
training, resources and professional
development to build skills and careers that
deliver evidence to change practice.
Director, Research Institute, Mozambique
The members of our Nigeria Global Health
Trials Network are part of the Professional
Membership Scheme. Of special benefit
are the competency wheel and research
process map which we have used to build
our capacities and guide the conduct of our
studies.
Knowledge Hub Coordinator, Nigeria
The resources available on The Global
Health Network, including the Professional
Development Scheme amongst other
trainings, guidance and templates, are
innovative, unique and highly accessed by a
truly global health research community.
Director, Research Funder
1
Figure 4: Heat map illustrating the frequency of membership of the
Professional Development Scheme by country where n=8478
The courses with the highest usage are largely reflective of the knowledge
gaps identified and have exceptional global uptake; across the Training
Centre over 1.3 million research modules have now been taken.
With the African Coalition for Epidemic Research, Response and Training
(ALERRT), The Global Health Network has implemented the Professional
Development Scheme across study teams to identify the skills and
competencies across ALERRT sites and provide research skills training to
address any gaps. By the second year of the programme (2019), 34% of
members across ALERRT had registered. By collating data from teams and
study sites in this way, the Professional Development Scheme also enables
platforms and consortia to showcase their experience and monitor capacity
development over time.
Impact Report 2020
www.theglobalhealthnetwork.org | 11

Intergrating Networks for Lasting Research
Capabilities
The proven concept and approaches across The Global Health Network and described throughout this report are together integrated
alongside face-to-face initiatives with regional programmes and research consortia in resource-limited settings to deliver lasting research
skills and engagement within healthcare settings. These programmes incorporate knowledge exchange, research skills training and
the Professional Development Scheme and enhance these activities into dynamic, practical and contextually applied skills development
programmes.
Figure 5: Regional Programmes: Visualisation of The Global Health Network’s regional
programmes integrated with research consortia including ALERRT, REDe and the EDCTP
Networks of Excellence, together delivering research capability initiatives
With support from The
Global Health Network,
we have organised eight
national research capacity
building workshops
for Doctors, Nurses,
Pharmacists, Laboratory
Scientists, Data Managers,
and Students.
Knowledge Hub
Coordinator, Nigeria
Working with multiple international networks and consortia
including the EDCTP Networks of Excellence (WANETAM, CANTAM,
EACCR, TESA) ALERRT, PANDORA-ID-NET and other consortiumled
programmes, The Global Health Network has harnessed
this opportunity to implement schemes that focus on targeted
learning through active participation and peer mentoring. In 2019
in association with the ALERRT network, two exchange visits
were coordinated between Institut Pasteur de Madagascar and
KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, with the objective
of establishing a Health Demographic Surveillance System in
Madagascar. This has strengthened and enforced the power of
South-South collaboration, drawing on the skill base and regional
expertise held within the networks, so that a less experienced site
may be paired with and mentored by a more expert site from a
setting with similar contextually relevant challenges.
Similarly, in association with the REDe network, the European Unionfunded
consortia ZIKAlliance ambitiously and effectively adopted
country-level reciprocal monitoring for their ZIKV cohort studies
partnering sites based in Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador,
Bolivia, Mexico, and Cuba by pairing experienced sites with more
junior sites to develop a supported learning environment.
In association with their host institutions, and with wider networks
and partners, the regional coordinators and consortia programmes
continue to develop and manage an ongoing series of targeted
workshops for research communities in a variety of settings.
These training initiatives seeks to hone specific and technical
skills by combining comprehensive seminar-based tutoring with
practical skills sessions.
In wider consideration of delivering meaningful capacity
development to the regions, these workshops were instrumental
in building relationships between experts who have subsequently
submitted a joint funding application.
Alongside the successful workshops, since its inception the
REDe network across Latin America has delivered extensive
collaborations across The Global Health Network and with other
partner organisations in Latin America, including new knowledge
hubs now working with The Global Health Network, the uptake
of the INTERGROWTH-21 st growth charts and standards, and
resources and e-learning also delivered through The Global
Health Network. REDe also resulted in the development of Brain
12 | www.theglobalhealthnetwork.org Impact Report 2020

Programme workshoops delivered in partnership with the Global Health Network in 2019 and 2020
Location Lead Organisation Title Registered attendees
Lima, Peru
REDe
Biobanks for Research Purposes: Opportunities and
Challenges
102
Aracajú, Brazil
REDe
Diagnosis and public policy - Impacts of the arbovirus epidemic
in the state of Sergipe: to diagnose better and to prevent new
outbreaks
71
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil REDe Vector control - Arbovirus-transmitting mosquitoes 33
Recife, Brazil
REDe
Neuro Zika - Neurological diseases and arboviruses: preparing for
the next epidemic
43
Santa Cruz, Brazil
REDe
Motor functional rehabilitation - Chikungunya and Zika Viruses
in the Northeast of Brazil: Global health perspectives focussing on
human functionality
99
Enugu, Nigeria
Global Research Nurses
Building Nursing research capacity in Africa and optimizing
health outcomes: Finding Evidence through research and
Translating Evidence into best practices
230
Abuja, Nigeria
Global Health Trials
Building Team for Responsible Research Conduct and
Publication
182
Lagos, Nigeria
Global Research Nurses
Advancing nursing research: Transforming healthcare
approaches through quality research skills development
170
New Resources developed and shared across The Global Health Network
The International Fetal and Newborn
Growth Consortium for the 21 st
Century
Shared learning and
knowledge exchange across
The Global Health Network
New Knowledge Hubs and Communities of Practice
Figure 6: Schematic diagram representing the REDe network in Latin America and the subsequent partnerships and initiatives that
have initiated as a direct outcome of REDe
Infections Global, a collaboration between the University of Liverpool
(UK), University of Malawi College of Medicine (Malawi), National
Institute for Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (India) and Fiocruz
(Brazil). This consortium is funded by the Global Challenges Research
Fund to focus on the management of acute brain infections and
understand the challenges in case management. This network has
developed the NeuroID e-Learning, available on The Global Health
Network, and through the knowledge hub most recently formed the
COVID-Neuro Network, a collaboration to enable data collection for
patients with neurological complications of COVID-19 by providing
case record forms and standardised case definitions.
By leveraging The Global Health Network’s partnerships
with international partners and agencies including the Pan
American Health Organization, EDCTP, the Coalition for Epidemic
Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and the Drugs for Neglected
Diseases initiative (DNDi), the established regional networks have
scaled up to deliver active knowledge exchange and expertise
as well as to support research staff to advance research capacity
at both an individual and institutional level. These networks have
also acted as the vehicle for establishing and formalising long-term
relationships between partners that offers a sustained platform for
continuing research beyond the period of project funding.
Impact Report 2020
www.theglobalhealthnetwork.org | 13

INTERGROWTH-21 st
Evidence based, easy to use
tools to generate Z-scores,
which formed the basis of
our analysis and subsequent
publications.
Doctor, Honduras
The International Fetal and Newborn Growth Consortium for the 21 st Century
(INTERGROWTH-21st) is a global programme dedicated to improving global perinatal
health, reducing preterm birth and poor intrauterine growth. The Global Health Network
has served as the mechanism for disseminating globally validated INTERGROWTH-21 st
standards and practical training resources across the globe.
INTERGROWTH-21 st tools, training and
standards, shared openly through The
Global Health Network, have had a pivotal
role throughout research projects research
projects by delivering training and tools
and enabling reliable data collection to
give global uniformity in measurements.
The positive impact of INTERGROWTH-
21 st standards, tools and resources was
also evident in the improvement of health
care provision for mothers and babies,
improvements in clinical services and
workforce skills and capacity, influencing
Since July 2014 over...
230,000
INTERGROWTH-21 st tools downloaded
in 195 countries
health policy and training of health
professionals.
During the Zika outbreak, INTERGROWTH-
21 st had a pivotal role in facilitating clinical
surveillance, detection and research.
These easily available standards were
used to assess anthropometric parameters
in children born during the outbreak and to
determine the presence of microcephaly at
birth. These standards helped to get more
accurate readings and provided uniformity
in measurements.
7000
training certificated awarded; over
600,000 page views
This does help my research
and clinical role to counsel the
parents and caregivers about
the importance of the first 1,000
days so that the children can
reach their full potential. In the
hospital of Tropical Diseases,
we take care of the pregnant
women who are infected with
Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever
and we follow up these mothers
during pregnancy and their
babies up to 2 years old.
Interviewee, INTERGROWTH-21 st
Impact Assessment
[INTERGROWTH-21 st tools] they
have put us in a better position
to keep working in research
Medical Physician & Researcher,
India
All the tools and documentation
found on the INTERGROWTH-
21 st website have helped
me to monitor microcephaly
associated with the Zika virus,
much faster and with greater
accuracy. As also has the
dissemination of the tools and
research and analysis of the
findings.
Interview, INTERGROWTH-21 st
Impact Assessment
14 | www.theglobalhealthnetwork.org Impact Report 2020

Leveraging Value for Research Funders and
Sponsors
The Global Health Network has demonstrated that transferring knowledge between roles, regions, organisations and disease areas can
accelerate research by raising quality, introducing standardisation and fostering lasting, capable teams and internationally competitive
centres of excellence. The Global Health Network was established specifically to promote and enable this exchange of know-how. The
Global Health Network’s goal has been, and continues to be, to provide teams with everything they would need to access to enable them
to conduct high quality studies, irrespective of the setting in which they work. The Global Health Network shares the research excellence
developed through academic funding, core support for programmes and from industry sponsored studies more widely with less experienced
teams, but also between disease areas and studies types within and across these more established programmes. The thousands of
resources downloaded, e-learning courses taken, and workshops attended each represent a team accessing information that help guide
their study, so making it faster to set up and easier to conduct.
Through close collaboration with the groups and organisations highlighted throughout this report, The Global Health Network has broadened
the uptake and impact of various capacity building and research initiatives that have been funded by Wellcome, the Medical Research
Council, EDCTP, the European Union and others. Researchers from programmes including Wellcome’s Africa and Asia Programmes, the MRC
Units in The Gambia and Uganda and recipients from schemes such as Joint Global Health Trials access the training, templates and guidance
that are available through The Global Health Network, thereby raising the standards and quality of these studies. This is delivering added
value and better return on investment for funders as these resources and training help to assure that the data arising from funded studies is
robust and appropriate for sharing. Impact from these awards is further raised by these researchers in turn sharing their tools and know-how
developed through the funded work and sustaining these outputs beyond the specific grant period.
We could give many more examples of where grant and
externally sponsored funded teams in LMICs are sharing
solutions and processes with others. Some further examples
include:
The Global Health Data Management Steering Committee:
brought together by Wellcome, this Steering Committee of data
managers from Wellcome’s Africa and Asia programmes guides
the resources available to support data management and data
sharing. The materials developed by this group are now being
adapted into an e-learning course which will be available in
Autumn 2020.
The Good Clinical Laboratory Practice course: developed in
partnership with the Global Health Clinical Consortium and has
now been taken by over 15,000 individuals.
Through the MESH knowledge hub and following a sustained
focus on community advisory boards, teams
from the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit,
Thailand set up community advisory boards in their research
programme.
The Quality Management toolkit was designed through a
partnership between the EDCTP Networks of Excellence
(CANTAM, EACCR, TESA and WANETAM) and has subsequently
been shared with the REDe network in Latin America for use
during the Zika outbreak. This toolkit has now been adapted
specifically for COVID-19 and shared with DNDi.
The Global Health Bioethics Network, through the Global
Health Bioethics knowledge hub, supports ethics reviewers to
discuss the review of protocols, specifically aimed at improving
ethical standards in global health research. This incorporates an
ethics advisory panel, enabling the research and ethics review
community to discuss and consider research ethics through
open, practical dialogue.
The ISARIC COVID-19 Clinical Characterisation Protocol was
shared openly on The Global Health Network and has been
adapted to be contextually relevant by a group at the Malawi-
Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme;
following ethical approval, this team re-shared the protocol
through COVID-19 Knowledge Hub. The MRC Unit The Gambia
has also shared SOPs and guidelines on the clinical management
of suspected COVID-19 through this knowledge hub.
Within the next phase of The Global Health Network’s
development we now intend to progress the delivery of this
research-enabling work with focus and coherence through an
expanded strategic framework, creating continuous sharing and
iterative learning to deliver lasting capabilities.
Impact Report 2020
www.theglobalhealthnetwork.org | 15

The Global Health Network: Knowledge Hubs
Knowledge Hub
AKU-SONAM EA C.A.R.E.
Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
ALERRT
Brain Infections Global
Central African Network on TB, HIV/AIDS and Malaria
(CANTAM)
CHAIN (Childhood Acute Illness and Nutrition Network)
Children’s Oxygen Administration Strategies Trial (COAST)
Consortium for the Standardization of Influenza
Seroepidemiology (CONSISE)
COVID-19 Research Implementation and Knowledge Hub
East Africa Consortium for Clinical Research (EACCR)
EDCTP Knowledge Hub
ELSI 2.0
Epidemics Ethics
Epidemic Preparedness Innovations
Epidemic Diseases Research Group (ERGO)
Fiocruz
Global Birth Defects
Global Dengue Lab
Global Health Bioethics
Global Health Data Management
Global Health Diagnostics
Global Health Economics
Global Health Laboratories
Global Health Social Science
Global Health Trials
Global Health Methodology Research
Global Mother Child Research
Global Musculoskeletal
Global Pharmacovigilance
Global Pregnancy CoLab
Thematic Area
Research Consortia and Networks
Infection, Immunity and Resistance
Research Consortia and Networks
Infection, Immunity and Resistance
Research Consortia and Networks
Woman and Child Health
Woman and Child Health
Research Consortia and Networks
Infection, Immunity and Resistance
Research Consortia and Networks
Research Processes and Methods
Social Science, Ethics and Communities
Social Science, Ethics and Communities
Infection, Immunity and Resistance
Infection, Immunity and Resistance
Research Consortia and Networks
Woman and Child Health
Infection, Immunity and Resistance
Social Science, Ethics and Communities
Research Processes and Methods
Infection, Immunity and Resistance
Social Science, Ethics and Communities
Laboratories, Vectors and Diagnostics
Social Science, Ethics and Communities
Research Processes and Methods
Research Processes and Methodology
Woman and Child Health
Non-Communicable Disease
Research Processes and Methods
Woman and Child Health
16 | www.theglobalhealthnetwork.org Impact Report 2020

The Global Health Network: Knowledge Hubs
Knowledge Hub
Global Research Nurses
Human Infection Studies
INTERGROWTH-21st
ISARIC
Lactahub
MESH (Community Engagement in Research)
PANDORA-ID-NET
PediCAP
PRECISE
REDe
TDR Fellows
Trials of Excellence for Southern Africa (TESA)
TREAD (The Research Ethics Application Database)
West Africa Network of Excellence for TB, AIDS and Malaria
(WANETAM)
WEPHREN
WWARN/IDDO
ZIKA Infection
ZIKAlliance
ZIKAPlan
Thematic Area
Research Consortia and Networks
Infection, Immunity and Resistance
Woman and Child Health
Infection, Immunity and Resistance
Woman and Child Health
Social Science, Ethics and Communities
Research Consortia and Networks
Woman and Child Health
Woman and Child Health
Research Consortia and Networks
Research Consortia and Networks
Research Consortia and Networks
Social Science, Ethics and Communities
Research Consortia and Networks
Social Science, Ethics and Communities
Infection, Immunity and Resistance
Infection, Immunity and Resistance
Research Consortia and Networks
Research Consortia and Networks
Impact Report 2020
www.theglobalhealthnetwork.org | 17

The Global Health Network Collaborators
African coaLition for Epidemic Research, Response and Training
Brain Infections Global
Brain Infections UK Centre for Immunology and Vaccinology, Imperial College
London
Central Africa Network on Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and Malaria
Childhood Acute Illness and Nutrition Network
Clinton Health Access Initiative
Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations
Collaborative Initiative for Paediatric HIV Education and Research Columbia
University Mailman School of Public Health
CONSISE
DF/NET Research
Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative
East African Consortium for Clinical Research
Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDs Foundation
ELSI2.0
Epidemic Diseases Research Group Oxford
ETHOX
Faculty for Capacity Development
Family Larsson Rosenquist Foundation
Geneva Foundation for Medical Education and Research
Global Alliance for Musculoskeletal Health
Global Health Clinical Consortium
Industry Liason Forum
Infectious Diseases Data Observatory
Infectious Diseases Research Institute
Institute of Infections and Global Health, University of Liverpool
INTERGROWTH-21 st
International AIDS Vaccine Initiative
International Committee for Congenital Anomaly Surveillance Tools
International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials Network
International Partnership for Microbicides
International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium
International Vaccine Institute
INTERPRACTICE-21 st
IQVIA
King's College London
KWTRP KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Magee Women's Research Institute
Maternal Health Task Force
Medical Research Council
Medicines for Malaria Venture
Medicines Patent Pool
MORU Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit
NeuroID e-Learning
Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal
Sciences, University of Oxford
Oswaldo Cruz Foundation
OUCRU Oxford University Clinical Research Unit
Oxford Maternal & Perinatal Health Institute
Paediatric European Network for Treatment of AIDS
Pan-African Network For Rapid Research, Response, Relief and Preparedness for
Infectious Disease Epidemics
PATH
PediCAP
Pregnancy Care Integrating translational Science, Everywhere Network
TB Alliance
TDR, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Disease
The Aga Khan University
The Global Pregnancy Collaboration
The Mutli-Regional Clinical Trials Center of Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Harvard
The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals
The Synergist
The United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust
The Worldwide Prison Health Research & Engagement Network
Trials of Excellence for Southern Africa
TRICLINIUM Clinical Development (Pty) Ltd
UK Public Health Rapid Support Team
UNICEF
University of Liverpool
University of York
West Africa network of excellence for clinical trials in TB, AIDS, and Malaria
World Health Organization
WorldWide Antimalarial Resistance Network
ZikAlliance
ZikaPLAN
18 | www.theglobalhealthnetwork.org Impact Report 2020

The Global Health Network Funders
EU Horizon 2020 Research
and Innovation Programme
EU Horizon 2020 Research
and Innovation Programme
Impact Report 2020
www.theglobalhealthnetwork.org | 19

www.theglobalhealthnetwork.org
20 | www.theglobalhealthnetwork.org Impact Report 2020