Research support
Making an impact
This includes:
Research for delivery and access
Research training for capacity strengthening
Research for decision-making
TDR will support and facilitate country-led implementation research to improve access to quality services among vulnerable groups. We will close the gap between research and health service practice. Our research will be led by the questions raised by stakeholders, such as frontline workers and development partners, and employ a range of methods and disciplines, depending on the challenge at hand. Our work will take into account context and the interaction of people and environment (both biological and socio-economic) to build resilient systems for health.
Embedding systems strengthening in our support for research
“TDR doesn’t just give grants and wait for reports to come back. It is never a one-time transaction. Over the last eight years, TDR has worked closely with our national TB programme to not only produce research results but to empower us as well. We now feel more in control and bolder in doing research with a stronger, sustainable research system in place. We have also benefited enormously from being part of a regional network that allows us to share and exchange experiences with colleagues in other countries.”
– Professor Dissou Affolabi, National TB Programme manager, Benin; Executive Secretary of the West and Central African Regional Networks for TB Control (WARN/CARN-TB)
The TDR checklist to identify research priorities
These criteria allow TDR’s portfolio to be responsive to specific country demands and give back the evidence, knowledge and tools – especially to researchers, practitioners and to communities that most need them, thus democratizing research.
Potential initiatives should address the following criteria:
Local priority leading to effective solutions: the research question is identified as important to local stakeholders and the expected results can be translated into feasible and cost-effective solutions.
Strengthens research capacity: the research contributes to the development of skills and capacities of individuals and institutions in low- and middle-income countries to design and undertake research.
Addresses a global health challenge: the work addresses epidemics and outbreaks, control and elimination of diseases of poverty, climate change or resistance to treatment or control agents
Applies a multisectoral or One Health lens: the research brings together relevant disciplines and sectors in novel and holistic approaches.
Promotes equity and ethics: the research enhances social, economic and gender equity, reaching the most disadvantaged people, including hard-to-reach, mobile, marginalized and stigmatized groups.
Open science: data are shared and research outputs are made accessible for policy and practice improvements in ways that are fair to those who conducted the work and the communities where the research took place.
Value for money: the initiative balances economy, efficiency and effectiveness to maximize impact and builds on equitable partnerships.
Research for delivery and access
Inform health system practices for effective delivery and equitable access
TDR will support research to understand how new tools, strategies and interventions can deliver improved policy and practice and service delivery in ‘real world’ settings, with a focus on scale-up and equity.
Supporting the development of gender-responsive health interventions
Research for innovative solutions
Filling the gaps in tools, strategies and interventions
TDR will support implementation research that identifies gaps in existing tools, strategies or interventions and facilitates the development or adaptation of innovative solutions. Research will address gaps in treatment, control, elimination and safety monitoring, as well as in surveillance systems and outbreak response. We aim to ensure that low- and middle-income countries benefit from innovative technologies such as the digital tools available in high-income countries.
The School Guppy Project: A multisectoral socially innovative approach to dengue control in Cambodia
In Cambodia, mosquitoes which can carry dengue virus breed in fresh water collected in containers such as large clay jars used for domestic water storage. TDR supported a study that examined interventions including putting mosquito larvae-eating guppy fish in household water containers, trapping adult mosquitoes, removing mosquito breeding sites near homes and providing community education about dengue, particularly to school children. Stakeholders that participated in the project included the National Malaria and Dengue Control Programme, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education. The School Guppy Project exemplifies TDR’s expertise in social science research to enable multisectoral, community-based solutions to improve health.
Research for decision-making
Providing data for evidence-based decisions on guidelines and policies
TDR will support research that facilitates the formulation of new guidelines and policies. We will find pathways for the accelerated translation of research into policies and guidance for practice. TDR-supported research will include:
- Addressing last-mile challenges of disease elimination where integration into primary health services is particularly important to sustain gains;
- Developing systems for the prevention, early detection and containment of antimicrobial resistance;
- Conducting situation analyses and systematic reviews; and
- Maximizing the utilization of data for public health decision-making, including strengthening researchers’ capacity to communicate their findings.
Evidence for guidelines and country policies to eliminate onchocerciasis
