Active Public Health & Healthcare

Mesh 2025-2027: Driving regional excellence in community engagement

Funder Wellcome Charity-funded
Recipient organisation University of Oxford
Funding £505K
Period Nov 2025 — Oct 2027

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

Mesh is building regional advisory boards and running 12 workshops and 12 webinars to strengthen how researchers engage with communities in global health research. This matters because health research often fails when communities are not meaningfully involved. Researchers may design studies that ignore local knowledge, mistrust, or practical barriers, leading to poor recruitment, flawed data, or interventions that people reject. Mesh acts as a knowledge-broker—a neutral hub that connects community engagement experts across regions, curates proven resources, and shares what works. Without this infrastructure, each research team essentially starts from scratch, wasting time and money on lessons already learned elsewhere. If successful, Mesh will make community engagement more consistent and effective across global health research. It will use AI to help researchers find trusted engagement resources quickly, rather than relying on scattered, outdated materials. Regional advisory boards will ensure that local voices shape how engagement happens, not just researchers in wealthy countries. The project also aims to align funders and stakeholders around shared strategies, building a foundation for Mesh to continue beyond 2027. This is not fundamental science—it is an operational network designed to improve how existing research is conducted, particularly in low- and middle-income settings.

View original technical description
Wellcome funding since 2016 has supported Mesh to become the only globally- recognised knowledge-broker and network aimed at strengthening practice in Community Engagement with global health research (CE) through both online and regional presence. Hosted within The Global Health Network (TGHN), a World Health Organization (WHO) collaborating centre, Mesh is one of over 60 autonomous knowledge facilities. While TGHN is transitioning into a United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), Mesh though not dependent on this transition, stands to benefit from the enhanced ability this will bring to serve as a neutral convenor, connector and driver of CE in health research.With renewed Wellcome funding from 2025-2027, Mesh will drive regional CE excellence by strengthening governance and leadership through establishing regional Advisory Boards, and by connecting regional CE experts to curate, co-produce and disseminate CE resources in 12 regional workshops and 12 webinars. Mesh will also leverage AI to enhance equitable access to trusted CE resources by improving their discoverability and curation. Finally, it will convene stakeholders and funders to align CE strategies and build a strong foundation for Mesh’ long-term sustainability. Driving regional CE excellence is central to fostering equitable, inclusive, and sustainable engagement between communities and global health researchers.

View the original record at the funder ↗

Researchers

Trudie Lang (EPMC Awardee)

Related Research

Grants with similar aims, by meaning.

Mesh Community Engagement Network
Eh!woza: Advancing South African CE Infrastructure for ID and Climate&Health
Science-to-Policy; A Global Media Network Bridging North-South Divides
GCRF Global Health and Clean Water Network
Advancing Capacity for Climate and Environment Social Science (ACCESS)

Original classification

Discretionary Award

Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.