NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Neglected Tropical Diseases at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (Phase 2)

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. 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). 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. 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. 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.