Charité Center for Global Health, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Department for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Glob Health Action. 2024 Dec 31;17(1):2408884. doi: 10.1080/16549716.2024.2408884. Epub 2024 Oct 21.
Germany has increased its political and financial commitment for global health, but this needs to be backed by a robust global health research ecosystem with strong partnerships in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
This article suggests pathways for empowering researchers to operate beyond their disciplinary silos and strengthen partnerships across sectors and countries. The authors identify barriers and enablers of operations from a nascent research network in Germany, trusting that this experience can inform other initiatives seeking to stoke interdisciplinary and collaborative global health research.
This article represents the culmination of extensive reflections spanning the initial four years of the German Alliance for Global Health Research (GLOHRA). The insights have additionally been informed by an analysis of publicly available reports, internal procedural records, and externally conducted studies based on interviews with researchers and policymakers.
GLOHRA has developed a toolbox of practices that foster interdisciplinary research and support capacity-building. Insights indicate that highly interdisciplinary and diverse governance structures and seed-funding for interdisciplinary and cross-sector research with appropriate review processes represent a critical step for achieving these aims. Additionally, inclusive training sessions and networking events help to bridge disciplinary boundaries, equipping researchers to envision the broader context of their work.
Despite achievements, challenges persist. Wider support, especially from universities and research institutions, is necessary to make global health research an attractive career path and to reduce bureaucratic barriers for collaborators in LMICs. Sustained, longer-term federal funding mechanisms will also be essential for ongoing progress.
德国增加了其在全球卫生方面的政治和财政承诺，但这需要有一个强大的全球卫生研究生态系统作为支撑，该系统在中低收入国家（LMICs）中有强大的伙伴关系。
本文提出了使研究人员能够超越学科壁垒并加强跨部门和国家伙伴关系的途径。作者从德国一个新兴的研究网络中确定了运营的障碍和促进因素，相信这一经验可以为其他寻求激发跨学科和合作性全球卫生研究的倡议提供信息。
本文代表了德国全球健康研究联盟（GLOHRA）最初四年广泛反思的结晶。此外，还通过对公开报告、内部程序记录以及基于对研究人员和政策制定者的访谈进行的外部研究进行分析，获得了这些见解。
GLOHRA 开发了一套促进跨学科研究和支持能力建设的实践工具。研究结果表明，高度跨学科和多样化的治理结构以及为跨学科和跨部门研究提供种子资金，并配以适当的审查程序，是实现这些目标的关键步骤。此外，包容性的培训课程和网络活动有助于弥合学科之间的鸿沟，使研究人员能够设想其工作的更广泛背景。
尽管取得了成就，但挑战依然存在。需要更广泛的支持，特别是来自大学和研究机构的支持，以使全球健康研究成为一个有吸引力的职业道路，并减少中低收入国家合作伙伴的官僚障碍。持续的、长期的联邦资助机制对于持续进展也是必要的。
