Strengthening & Accelerating the Global Research Response to COVID-19 by Sharing Methods and Knowledge Between Countries, Networks and Organisations

Lead Research Organisation: University of Oxford
Department Name: UNLISTED

Abstract

COVID-19 is a new virus and therefore there are many unknowns that need to be
answered through research. Setting up studies takes a long time and there are many
places in the world with low research capability and experience. Therefore, we need to
find a way to get all the organisations, networks and teams working on this outbreak to
share not only what they are discovering, but also how they do their research. This could
help all countries to run their own studies by sharing the methods and systems that have
been developed, and by providing guidance and support on how to run these studies in
their clinics and hospitals. We need all types of research in outbreaks, not just to test
drugs and vaccines but also to understand the social context so that locally appropriate
public health messages and measures can be implemented. Better diagnostics are also
critical to avoid over-burdening hospitals. We learnt much during the Zika and Ebola
outbreaks and many initiatives and networks were set up. Here we build on these
collaborations and our experience within our wide, global community to help countries at
the most risk to also take part and benefit from research.

Technical Summary

This COVID-19 Rapid Response award is funded (100%) by the National Institute for Health Research but was part of a joint call between the MRC and the National Institute for Health Research.

A Public Health Emergency was declared for COVID-19 to galvanize global collaboration
to support less resources nations; this must include research to address the unknowns
and ensure equity in who benefits from findings and interventions. We propose to further
develop a proven mechanism for supporting locally-led evidence generation by facilitating
knowledge sharing between all the networks and getting information and support to where
research capacity is low. During the Ebola and Zika outbreak The Global Health Network
served an important role in delivering and sharing trusted research tools, guidance and
training which facilitated faster, standardised quality data capture. Beyond these
outbreaks we have been working with our partners to create lasting research networks to
support evidence generation in challenging settings. Here we will take our experience and
add new innovative technology to make highly targeted information, tools and resources
discoverable and support rapid implementation of new knowledge as this outbreak
evolves. Our global partners are asking for such a mechanism, and here we can use the
platform, our community, technolology and expertise to address the immediate need for
global sharing and research support at this crucial point. What we learn here can then be
applied to future outbreaks.

People

ORCID iD
 
Description COVID Research Implementation Hub
Geographic Reach Multiple continents/international 
Policy Influence Type Influenced training of practitioners or researchers
Impact The COVID research implementation hub enabled numerous outputs that were impactful on policy, patients and the pubic. This work was research enabling, connecting excellence and allowing research to take place where teams previously had no access to tools, training, methods and resources to support their work. Here this work delivered the following outputs that impacted policy, patients and the public: 1. The generation of new protocols to address missing evidence to address public health priorities within the pandemic 2. Obtaining consensus from over 4,000 researchers, health workers and policy makers in the Global South over research priorities in June 2020 of the pandemic 3. Providing research standards, methods and tools to 1000's of researchers in LMICs so they could contribute to the generation of evidence 4. Linking researchers with policy makers to enable evidence to be translated into practice 5. Working with researchers to turn research findings into guidance and resources that can be used by healthcare professionals to take findings back to the community
URL https://coronavirus.tghn.org/
 
Description Global Innovative Hub for Multimorbidity solutions
Geographic Reach Multiple continents/international 
Policy Influence Type Influenced training of practitioners or researchers
Impact The team has developed an academic collaborative partnership "Global Innovation Hub for Multimorbidity Solutions" among six organizations including University of Nottingham, Nepal Public Health Foundation, Patan Academy of Health Science, Nepal and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Bangladesh for capacity building, knowledge sharing, publication and dissemination, with the aim to identify the impact of the pandemic on multimorbidity conditions and develop a pragmatic solution for LMIC settings like Bangladesh and Nepal from the experience of the developed countries.
 
Title Interactive step-wise toolkits in the COVID-19 Hub Resource Area 
Description The Hub supports research implementation in 7 key thematic areas and ensures that research teams can find the support, tools, resources, and guidance that they need to aid their studies during this rapidly evolving situation. Using shared and open protocols and tools can raise research standards and enable easier and better data sharing. The inherent nature of the materials and resources shared through the hub offers practical and tangible 'lessons learned' that can benefit research communities globally in the setup and implementation of health studies. This includes the study profiles, offering public access to key study documentation including protocols, ethics application forms, participants information sheets. All examples are showcased within the context of the remit of the studies intended, but can be downloaded, modified, and adapted. This area reflects the greatest demand for training resources and continues to expand with interactive step-wise toolkits as well as showcases the ISARIC Clinical Characterisation Protocol, with short tutorial videos developed to support operationalising this observational study globally. The resource area includes interactive step-wise toolkits - an incredibly useful resource, supporting step-wise guidance and offering the 'how to' approach • Quality Management • Blood pharmacokinetic sample collection • Collection of ECG data in COVID-19 clinical trials • ISARIC Clinical Characterisation Protocol (CCP) ? toolkit with short video tutorials developed to support the implementation of this study globally. • Clinical management of suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases: by the MRC Unit The Gambia Clinical Services Department. 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact Using shared and open protocols and tools can raise research standards and enable easier and better data sharing. The inherent nature of the materials and resources shared through the hub offers practical and tangible 'lessons learned' that can benefit research communities globally in the setup and implementation of health studies. 
URL https://coronavirus.tghn.org/research-resources/
 
Description Covid-19 Lusophone Working groups and "Back to School" communication toolkit 
Organisation Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz)
Country Brazil 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution In response to the lusophone workshop, a Lusophone COVID-19 working group (WG) was established to share and generate materials and promote the exchange of challenges and solutions. Notably, this is the only COVID-19 working group hosted in another language. In the first WG meeting (August 2020), 19 researchers from Cape Verde, Mozambique and Brazil participated and divided voluntarily into two discrete groups. To date, 10 meetings have taken place across the two subgroups.
Collaborator Contribution One subgroup focused on producing a "Back to School" communication kit. Several countries faced the challenge of providing a safe environment for the return to classroom-based learning in schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lusophone WG has produced free downloadable communication kits, in Portuguese, to help school managers, families, and students to prevent COVID-19 transmission with the most up-to-date strategies. The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation issued guidelines on biosafety regarding the return of classes and endorsed this initiative. The kit has been made available for free download on a dedicated page. Fiocruz has also contributed directly to other projects across the Network, assisting with Portuguese and Spanish translations of surveys and communications, as well as helping to shape such tools into a relevant format for the Brazilian and Latin American audience. This included, for example, the global survey on COVID-19 research priorities, which led to authorship on a scientific article published in December 2020 for addressing priorities pertinent to LAC settings and a call to action.
Impact Communications Kit: COVID-19 School Safety Communications Kit (https://coronavirus.tghn.org/regional-response/latin-america/Communication-for-schools/ ) Paper: COVID-19 in Latin America and Caribbean: A determination of research priorities and call to action: https://coronavirus.tghn.org/regional-response/latin-america/covid-19-priorities-lac/
Start Year 2020
 
Description Developing a Policy Statement and Recommendations for Pakistan's Ethics Review Framework and IRBs in Support of Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response 
Organisation Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre
Country Pakistan 
Sector Hospitals 
PI Contribution We are collaborating with a team in Pakistan that is working on a project on Developing a Policy Statement and Recommendations for Pakistan's Ethics Review Framework and IRBs in Support of Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response. Led by key decision-makers, including members of the National Bioethics Committee and IRB members as well as policymakers, researchers, regulators, health professionals, and community and patient representatives, the project aims to assess the practices and procedures of ethics review during public health emergencies for health-related research in Pakistan. The project is also reviewing, discussing, and generating a policy statement and a set of recommendations intended to develop policy and guidance. We have been supporting this project from the start, and currently we are helping develop the policy brief to be presented within the government.
Collaborator Contribution The team in Pakistan is working on a project on Developing a Policy Statement and Recommendations for Pakistan's Ethics Review Framework and IRBs in Support of Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response. Led by key decision-makers, including members of the National Bioethics Committee and IRB members as well as policymakers, researchers, regulators, health professionals, and community and patient representatives, the project aims to assess the practices and procedures of ethics review during public health emergencies for health-related research in Pakistan. The project is also reviewing, discussing, and generating a policy statement and a set of recommendations intended to develop policy and guidance. The team is currently developing the policy brief to be presented within the government.
Impact Webinars Workshops The team is currently developing the policy brief to be presented within the government There will be further impact as a result of initiatives not yet implemented which will occur outside this reporting window.
Start Year 2020
 
Description Social Movement Ethnography in Latin America 
Organisation Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz)
Country Brazil 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution TGHN invited Fiocruz to be a co-applicant in a COVID-19 response project and was able to support the development and delivery of the virtual ethnography. This project also led to the production of a course for the Civil Society on health emergencies, to be offered in the TGHN Training Centre and also in Fiocruz Virtual Campus. Both teams have contributed to the production and translation of the course.
Collaborator Contribution Fiocruz with the collaboration of research centres in Brazil, Mexico, and Ecuador is leading this project with the aim to identify, observe, map, describe, and analyse the initiatives and mobilization strategies carried out by social movements of vulnerable populations to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. We are currently working on developing a policy brief to share the research results and will produce an eLearning to offer technical and scientific information to strengthen the role of social movements as mediators of knowledge.
Impact We are currently working on developing a policy brief to share the research results and will produce an eLearning to offer technical and scientific information to strengthen the role of social movements as mediators of knowledge. Course for the Civil Society on health emergencies, to be offered in the TGHN Training Centre and also in Fiocruz Virtual Campus
Start Year 2021
 
Description Strengthening research ethics governance and regulatory oversight in Central America and the Dominican Republic in response to the COVID-19 pandemic 
Organisation Autonomous University of Santo Domingo
Country Dominican Republic 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution In Latin America, we are working with a team across Central America that is conducting a project on 'Strengthening research ethics governance and regulatory oversight in Central America and the Dominican Republic in response to the COVID-19 pandemic'. This was a team that was formed as part of our COVID-19 grant, and after evaluating research priorities through a study for LAC, they now aimed at establishing a governance framework for ethical research as recommended by WHO for the LAC region, where the lack of research ethics governance is a long-standing problem. The project sought to understand the current status of research ethics governance and regulations, ethics review practices, scientific collaboration and community participation across Panamá, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic as a step to guide the development, formalization and adoption of an ethical framework for health research governance with an emphasis on PHE.
Collaborator Contribution An interdisciplinary and international research team was formed with at least one research ethics member and researcher representing each of the countries involved, representing either public, private and/or civil societies and ministries/gov agencies. An international advisory group was also formed by experienced and recognized professionals in the field of research ethics and global health.
Impact Currently, we have finished a report presented to WHO with the results, and to we are preparing the uptake plans, including dissemination events for researchers and the community, writing up a policy Brief and a presentation to the health authorities in each country and the COMISCA health secretariat (The Council of Ministers of Health of Latin America and the Caribbean (COMISCA) is the political body of the Central American Integration System (SICA) to translate these recommendations into action through deliberative and open dialogue.
Start Year 2020
 
Description Strengthening research ethics governance and regulatory oversight in Central America and the Dominican Republic in response to the COVID-19 pandemic 
Organisation National Autonomous University of Honduras
Country Honduras 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution In Latin America, we are working with a team across Central America that is conducting a project on 'Strengthening research ethics governance and regulatory oversight in Central America and the Dominican Republic in response to the COVID-19 pandemic'. This was a team that was formed as part of our COVID-19 grant, and after evaluating research priorities through a study for LAC, they now aimed at establishing a governance framework for ethical research as recommended by WHO for the LAC region, where the lack of research ethics governance is a long-standing problem. The project sought to understand the current status of research ethics governance and regulations, ethics review practices, scientific collaboration and community participation across Panamá, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic as a step to guide the development, formalization and adoption of an ethical framework for health research governance with an emphasis on PHE.
Collaborator Contribution An interdisciplinary and international research team was formed with at least one research ethics member and researcher representing each of the countries involved, representing either public, private and/or civil societies and ministries/gov agencies. An international advisory group was also formed by experienced and recognized professionals in the field of research ethics and global health.
Impact Currently, we have finished a report presented to WHO with the results, and to we are preparing the uptake plans, including dissemination events for researchers and the community, writing up a policy Brief and a presentation to the health authorities in each country and the COMISCA health secretariat (The Council of Ministers of Health of Latin America and the Caribbean (COMISCA) is the political body of the Central American Integration System (SICA) to translate these recommendations into action through deliberative and open dialogue.
Start Year 2020
 
Description Strengthening research ethics governance and regulatory oversight in Central America and the Dominican Republic in response to the COVID-19 pandemic 
Organisation Pedro Henríquez Ureña National University
Country Dominican Republic 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution In Latin America, we are working with a team across Central America that is conducting a project on 'Strengthening research ethics governance and regulatory oversight in Central America and the Dominican Republic in response to the COVID-19 pandemic'. This was a team that was formed as part of our COVID-19 grant, and after evaluating research priorities through a study for LAC, they now aimed at establishing a governance framework for ethical research as recommended by WHO for the LAC region, where the lack of research ethics governance is a long-standing problem. The project sought to understand the current status of research ethics governance and regulations, ethics review practices, scientific collaboration and community participation across Panamá, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic as a step to guide the development, formalization and adoption of an ethical framework for health research governance with an emphasis on PHE.
Collaborator Contribution An interdisciplinary and international research team was formed with at least one research ethics member and researcher representing each of the countries involved, representing either public, private and/or civil societies and ministries/gov agencies. An international advisory group was also formed by experienced and recognized professionals in the field of research ethics and global health.
Impact Currently, we have finished a report presented to WHO with the results, and to we are preparing the uptake plans, including dissemination events for researchers and the community, writing up a policy Brief and a presentation to the health authorities in each country and the COMISCA health secretariat (The Council of Ministers of Health of Latin America and the Caribbean (COMISCA) is the political body of the Central American Integration System (SICA) to translate these recommendations into action through deliberative and open dialogue.
Start Year 2020
 
Description COVID 19 Hub Working Groups 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact In May 2020, we were asked by UKCDR to determine the current research priorities for LMICs in light of the WHO research priority roadmap lacking considerations for such settings. This research highlighted key areas where questions remain. As a direct outcome of the workshops and to actively address identified research priorities, 7 Working Groups (WGs) were established bringing excellent representation: almost 500 researchers across 82 countries from a range of organisations and with varying levels of experience.

They now lead themselves, with the Oxford team providing coordination and support as requested by these LMIC researchers. It is this combination of local leadership and the application of TGHN's platform that stand to make this work exceptional.

Impact:
From Working Groups:
• New partnerships created, how one of them put a grant proposal got it and a study happened: GoEthica.
• The Sharing of study SOPs, consents, others, and training to run the CCP study in other places
• Translation of tools and resources into other languages outside English with impact for example the lusophone WG, which enabled faster and better research during the pandemic
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020,2021
URL https://coronavirus.tghn.org/open-working-groups/
 
Description COVID-19 Research Implementation and Knowledge Hub's Webinar and Workshop Programme 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact The emergence of COVID-19 required robust, collaborative research to immediately understand how to combat this novel disease and also to learn for future outbreaks. Anticipating the need to support rapid research implementation in low-resource settings, The Global Health Network immediately reacted and launched the COVID-19 Research Implementation and Knowledge Hub in January 2020. The overall aim was to support global equity in taking part in and benefiting from health research. The Hub enables health professionals and researchers to discover the most relevant information, guidance, and resources to their research, role, and setting. It is being used by researchers to access resources in one place and is connecting major international initiatives working on COVID-19 to further disseminate by cross-linking all for maximum accessibility, information delivery, and further driving equitable access to COVID-19 research. Uptake Data to December 2021: Over 500,000 pages view from 195+ countries to coronavirus.tghn.org. More than 20,000 COVID-19 outbreak resources have been downloaded including Case Report Forms, Clinical Characterisation Protocols and ethics approval requests templates.

This COVID-19 Hub leads an ongoing programme of open workshops with research organisations tackling different aspects of the pandemic. With 70+ virtual workshops and webinars in multiple languages focusing on ongoing COVID-19 research and COVID-19 diseases, targeting researchers and healthcare workers specially across Latin America, Africa and Asia the the programme has hsoted over 50.000+ attendees from 109+ countries leading to the development of seven open working groups with 500+ researchers from at least 82 countries; each finding solutions for specific research areas. We have worked in collaboration with UK-PHRST, CEPI, PHEPHREN's Epidemics Ethics, COVID Neuro Network (BIG) amongst others. What began with an 'open virtual workshop' to explore the immediate regional research questions led rapidly to an evolving series identifying emerging research needs. These allow participants to directly voice their own questions, identify relevant resources and gather consensus with the panel and other attendees. This has also brought about an active mechanism for linking networks and consortia, heightening the impact each would achieve working separately. In May 2020, this resulted in a study to determine the current research priorities for LMICs in light of the WHO research priority roadmap that lacked considerations for such settings. This research highlighted key areas where questions remain. In line with the unfolding phases of the outbreak, the conversation and remit of workshops progressed from exploratory purposes to the pragmatic approaches for actually implementing the much-needed research.

Impacts: Aided understanding the priorities across the global south and how those differed - paper published. Which facilitated the set up of working groups.
Webinars and workshops: Sharing challenges and solutions cross-continental and finding solutions.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020,2021
URL https://coronavirus.tghn.org/
 
Description Covid-19 Lusophone Working groups and "Back to School" communication toolkit 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact n response to the lusophone workshop, a Lusophone COVID-19 working group (WG) was established to share and generate materials and promote the exchange of challenges and solutions. Notably, this is the only COVID-19 working group hosted in another language. In the first WG meeting (August 2020), 19 researchers from Cape Verde, Mozambique and Brazil participated and divided voluntarily into two discrete groups. To date, 10 meetings have taken place across the two subgroups.

One subgroup focused on producing a "Back to School" communication kit. Several countries faced the challenge of providing a safe environment for the return to classroom-based learning in schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lusophone WG has produced free downloadable communication kits, in Portuguese, to help school managers, families, and students to prevent COVID-19 transmission with the most up-to-date strategies. The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation issued guidelines on biosafety regarding the return of classes and endorsed this initiative. The kit has been made available for free download on a dedicated page.

Fiocruz has also contributed directly to other projects across the Network, assisting with Portuguese and Spanish translations of surveys and communications, as well as helping to shape such tools into a relevant format for the Brazilian and Latin American audience. This included, for example, the global survey on COVID-19 research priorities, which led to authorship on a scientific article published in December 2020 for addressing priorities pertinent to LAC settings and a call to action.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020,2021
URL https://coronavirus.tghn.org/regional-response/latin-america/Communication-for-schools/
 
Description Global Innovation Hub for Multimorbidity Solutions 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact a. From Asia, the team in the Initiative for Noncommunicable Diseases, HSPSD led by Dr. Aliya Naheed is leading the Asian Knowledge Hub and the STAND By Me project. The core activities here are capacity building of the clinicians and researchers in the LMICs in Asia who have access to limited resources and enable the local institutions to conduct local research for strengthening clinical research on COVID-19 in Asia. The team has developed an academic collaborative partnership "Global Innovation Hub for Multimorbidity Solutions" among six organizations including University of Nottingham, Nepal Public Health Foundation, Patan Academy of Health Science, Nepal and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Bangladesh for capacity building, knowledge sharing, publication and dissemination, with the aim to identify the impact of the pandemic on multimorbidity conditions and develop a pragmatic solution for LMIC settings like Bangladesh and Nepal from the experience of the developed countries.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021