Centre for Capacity Research, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK
Clinical Sciences, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK.
BMJ Open. 2022 Mar 29;12(3):e058126. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-058126.
To identify actions for fostering cross-disciplinary research (CDR) skills and collaborations in global health, and to produce recommendations for improving the design, implementation and management of cross-disciplinary global health research programmes.
Using a North-South global health research programme as a case study-and following an adapted framework-we conducted qualitative research using document reviews, semi-structured interviews (purposive sampling) and participatory observation. We used baseline survey findings to identify potential interviewees and tailor interview guides.
Our case study was a 4.5-year (2017-2021) programme, namely, the International Multidisciplinary Programme to Address Lung Health and Tuberculosis in Africa (IMPALA). Led by a UK research institute, IMPALA spanned 22 partner organisations from 13 countries (10 in sub-Saharan Africa), and involved five research discipline groups, , , and .
Thirty-one IMPALA members were interviewed (July 2018-November 2019), with interviewees evenly split by gender (16 female and 15 male) and by Global North/South institution (15 non-African and 16 African). Twenty-five (81%) were researchers, comprising 18 senior researchers (professors, readers, associate professors and senior lecturers) and seven early career researchers (assistant professors, lecturers, research fellows, postdocs, research assistants and PhD students). Twenty-four programme events were observed (September 2018-April 2020) and 49 documents were reviewed (December 2017-April 2020). All 66 IMPALA staff were sent the baseline survey, receiving 51 responses (43/56 researchers and 8/10 non-researchers).
Fourteen themes emerged, which suggested that CDR-while valued by many-is not universally understood, and the time it requires is often underestimated. We found that fostering CDR and managing tensions needs planning and continuous discussions and interactions. A shared vision with explicitly agreed goals and roles and active management of cross-disciplinary activities is essential.
Active planning, implementation and management of cross-disciplinary activities are essential for the success of cross-disciplinary global health research and should be separate from the primary research activities.
确定促进全球健康跨学科研究（CDR）技能和合作的行动，并为改进跨学科全球健康研究计划的设计、实施和管理提出建议。
使用一个南北半球全球健康研究计划作为案例研究，并遵循一个经过调整的框架，我们使用文件审查、半结构化访谈（针对性抽样）和参与式观察进行了定性研究。我们使用基线调查结果来确定潜在的受访者，并调整访谈指南。
我们的案例研究是一个为期 4.5 年（2017-2021 年）的项目，即国际多学科方案解决非洲的肺部健康和结核病问题（IMPALA）。IMPALA 由一个英国研究机构领导，跨越来自 13 个国家（10 个在撒哈拉以南非洲）的 22 个合作伙伴组织，并涉及五个研究学科组，分别是， ， ， 和 。
2018 年 7 月至 2019 年 11 月期间，对 31 名 IMPALA 成员进行了访谈，受访者在性别（16 名女性和 15 名男性）和全球南北机构（15 个非非洲和 16 个非洲）上平分秋色。25 人（81%）是研究人员，包括 18 名高级研究人员（教授、研究员、副教授和高级讲师）和 7 名早期职业研究人员（助理教授、讲师、研究员、博士后、研究助理和博士生）。观察了 24 个项目活动（2018 年 9 月至 2020 年 4 月），并审查了 49 份文件（2017 年 12 月至 2020 年 4 月）。所有 66 名 IMPALA 工作人员都收到了基线调查，收到了 51 份回复（56 名研究人员中的 43 名和 10 名非研究人员中的 8 名）。
出现了 14 个主题，这表明 CDR-虽然被许多人所重视-但并非普遍理解，而且所需的时间往往被低估。我们发现，促进 CDR 和管理紧张关系需要规划和持续的讨论和互动。具有明确目标和角色的共同愿景以及对跨学科活动的积极管理是必不可少的。
跨学科全球健康研究的成功需要积极规划、实施和管理跨学科活动，并且应该与主要研究活动分开。
