Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Tahir Foundation Building, Singapore, Singapore.
School of Government & Public Policy, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States.
Front Public Health. 2023 Dec 7;11:1191036. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1191036. eCollection 2023.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health security threat requiring research collaboration globally and regionally. Despite repeated calls for international research collaboration in Asia, literature analyzing the nature of collaborative AMR research in Asia has been sparse. This study aims to describe the characteristics of the AMR research network in Asia and investigate the factors influencing collaborative tie formation between organizations.
We carried out a mixed-methods study by combining social network analysis (SNA) and in-depth interviews. SNA was first conducted on primary data to describe the characteristics of the AMR research network in Asia. Exponential random graph models (ERGMs) were then used to examine the influence of factors such as organization type, country affluence levels, regional proximity and One Health research on collaborative tie formation among organizations. In-depth interviews were conducted with network participants to provide contextual insights to the quantitative data.
The results reveal that the research network exhibits a core-periphery structure, where a minority of organizations have a significantly higher number of collaborations with others. The most influential organizations in the network are academic institutions from high-income countries within and outside Asia. The ERGM results demonstrate that organizations prefer to collaborate with others of similar organization types, country-based affluence levels and One Health domains of focus, but also with others across different World Health Organization regions. The qualitative analysis identified three main themes: the challenges that impede collaboration, the central role of academic institutions, and the nature of collaborations across One Health domains, giving rise to important empirical milestones in understanding AMR research in Asia.
We thus recommend leveraging academic institutions as "integrators" to bridge differences, increasing funds channelled towards research capacity building to alleviate structural barriers to collaboration, streamlining collaborative mechanisms to overcome cumbersome administrative hurdles, and increasing efforts to establish trust between all organizations.
抗菌药物耐药性（AMR）是对全球卫生安全的威胁，需要在全球和区域范围内开展研究合作。尽管一再呼吁在亚洲开展国际研究合作，但分析亚洲合作抗菌药物耐药性研究性质的文献却很少。本研究旨在描述亚洲 AMR 研究网络的特征，并探讨影响组织间合作关系形成的因素。
我们采用混合方法研究，将社会网络分析（SNA）与深入访谈相结合。首先在初级数据上进行 SNA，以描述亚洲 AMR 研究网络的特征。然后使用指数随机图模型（ERGM）来检验组织类型、国家富裕程度、区域接近程度和“One Health”研究等因素对组织间合作关系形成的影响。对网络参与者进行深入访谈，为定量数据提供背景洞察。
研究结果表明，研究网络呈现出核心-边缘结构，少数组织与其他组织的合作数量明显更多。网络中最具影响力的组织是来自亚洲内外高收入国家的学术机构。ERGM 结果表明，组织倾向于与具有类似组织类型、基于国家的富裕程度和“One Health”重点领域的其他组织合作，但也与来自不同世界卫生组织区域的组织合作。定性分析确定了三个主题：阻碍合作的挑战、学术机构的核心作用以及跨越“One Health”领域的合作性质，这为理解亚洲 AMR 研究提供了重要的经验里程碑。
因此，我们建议利用学术机构作为“整合者”来弥合差异，增加用于研究能力建设的资金，以减轻合作的结构性障碍，简化合作机制以克服繁琐的行政障碍，并加强所有组织之间的信任建立。
