Award Title: NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Neglected Tropical Diseases at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (Phase 2)
Funder: Department of Health and Social Care

Abstract: Since 2017, our Phase 1 Global Health Research Unit (GHRU) on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) has successfully conducted and published research, strengthened individual and institutional research capacity, and delivered impact for patients and policy makers in Ethiopia and Sudan. The GHRU has focused on three of the most overlooked NTDs: podoconiosis, mycetoma and scabies, and has conducted research spanning geospatial analysis, medical anthropology, genetic mapping, drug identification and implementation science. _x000D_
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The overarching aim of this programme is to improve the health and wellbeing of people affected by these three NTDs in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Rwanda. In Phase 2, we plan to expand our partnership to include the University of Rwanda and the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (the research arm of the Rwanda Ministry of Health). _x000D_
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In Phase 2 of our GHRU, we plan an entirely new 5-year programme comprising 12 research projects. The research questions have been co-created through a process of i) consulting with stakeholders including patients, communities, implementers and policy makers; ii) identifying the areas in which our Phase 1 GHRU has had the most impact; and iii) participating in WHO and disease-group identification of research gaps. The projects will run in parallel and are grouped into four interrelated themes: 1. Mechanisms of disease, 2. Geospatial mapping, 3. Diagnostics and drug development, and 4. Implementation research.  _x000D_
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Our detailed delivery timeline and milestones are laid out in the attached Gantt chart. During the first year we will concentrate on setting up the programme: signing the head contract, developing and agreeing our collaboration agreements, recruiting research and support staff, recruiting and registering PhD students, finalising our data management plan and starting to develop plans for regional capacity strengthening fora. We will refine our Theory of Change with partners and begin to develop an impact, communications and engagement (ICE) strategy as well as a monitoring and evaluation framework for the programme. We will engage our Strategic Advisory Board and aim to hold our first cross-GHRU meeting. _x000D_
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Our ICE strategy will identify important global, regional and national routes through which our research findings may be disseminated. These will include ‘pandemic-proofed’ national and international meetings and conferences and attending and presenting symposia and papers at existing academic and policy fora. We will publish our findings as peer-reviewed articles and will look for opportunities to maximise the impact of these through, for example, Journal ‘Special Issues’. We will develop policy briefs from the studies with policy-relevant outcomes.

Lay Abstract: Our aim is to improve the health and wellbeing of people affected by three highly neglected conditions, podoconiosis, mycetoma and scabies, in Ethiopia, Sudan and Rwanda. We will conduct research co-created with stakeholders and designed to improve the experience of affected individuals, increase societal awareness, reduce stigmatisation, and expand the evidence base for national and international policy._x000D_
Since 2017, the NIHR Global Health Research Unit (GHRU) on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) at Brighton & Sussex Medical School has carried out a highly successful needs-driven research programme in partnership with Addis Ababa University and the Armauer Hansen Research Institute in Ethiopia, and the Mycetoma Research Centre, University of Khartoum, Sudan. Our GHRU has focused on three conditions considered severely neglected in terms of research, public attention and political will: podoconiosis (a progressive, disabling form of leg swelling seen in barefoot farmers); mycetoma (a destructive infection of the skin and underlying tissues) and scabies (a profoundly irritating skin condition caused by burrowing mites)._x000D_
Our studies have spanned wide-ranging disciplines to address questions directly relevant to national and global NTD elimination agendas. This research has been conducted within a strong framework of capacity strengthening which has developed infrastructure and financial management at partner institutions and trained 11 PhD students and 5 post-doctoral researchers. All early career researchers have benefitted from training opportunities within and beyond their countries, and from the NIHR Global Health Academy. We will build on these strong foundations in the next 5 years and expand the partnership to include the University of Rwanda._x000D_
We will use a range of methods to investigate new research questions clustered into four interrelated themes: mechanisms of disease, geospatial mapping, diagnostics and drug development, and implementation research. The questions have been prioritised through a process of i) identifying the areas in which our GHRU has had the most impact; ii) participating in WHO and disease-group identification of research gaps in these areas; and iii) consulting with stakeholders including patients, communities, implementers and policy makers. Our research will contribute evidence important to disease treatment and prevention strategies and continue to enhance research capacity to ensure sustainability._x000D_
We will continue to engage with and involve our stakeholder communities through existing fora for podoconiosis and mycetoma patients, by supporting the development of patient groups for scabies, and by hosting consultations with implementers and policy makers throughout the course of the GHRU. We will develop our Impact, Communications and Engagement (ICE) strategy to prioritise activities and channels of engagement for each country setting, including the UK._x000D_
Our ICE strategy will identify important global, regional and national routes through which our research findings may be disseminated. These will include hosting ‘pandemic-proofed’ national and international meetings and conferences, and attending and presenting symposia and papers at existing academic and policy fora. We will publish our results as peer-reviewed articles and look for opportunities to maximise their impact through, for example, Special Journal Issues. We will develop policy briefs from the studies with policy-relevant outcomes.

Research Activity Codes: 2.4 SURVEILLANCE AND DISTRIBUTION;4.1 DISCOVERY AND PRECLINICAL TESTING OF MARKERS AND TECHNOLOGIES;4.2 EVALUATION OF MARKERS AND TECHNOLOGIES;8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES
Health Categories: INFECTION