Explore every episode of the podcast Connecting Citizens to Science
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equity in Global Oncology | 17 Jul 2026 | 00:24:55 | |
Cancer care is advancing quickly, but access to diagnosis, treatment and support remains deeply uneven. In this episode of Connecting Citizens to Science, Professor Eva Kantelhardt and Professor Richard Sullivan discuss equity in global oncology, exploring how cancer systems can be strengthened through fair financing, better data, locally led research, patient voice and approaches that reflect the realities of different health systems and communities. In this episode: Prof. Dr. Eva J. Kantelhardt – Professor of Global and Planetary Health; Gynaecologist, Martin-Luther-University Halle (Saale), Germany Professor Eva J. Kantelhardt is Professor of Global and Planetary Health and a gynaecologist at Martin-Luther-University Halle in Germany. Her work focuses on cancer care in sub-Saharan Africa, bringing together population health, community involvement, primary health care, diagnostic and treatment services, and survivorship care. Her research and implementation work focuses on prevention, early detection and care, with particular attention to locally appropriate and culturally accepted approaches. Professor Richard Sullivan – Professor of Cancer & Global Health, & Director, Institute of Cancer Policy and Director, Centre for Conflict & Health Security at King’s College London Professor Richard Sullivan is Professor of Cancer and Global Health at King’s College London, where he is Director of the Institute of Cancer Policy and Director of the Centre for Conflict & Health Security. His work focuses on cancer services and systems, from surgical capacity building to national cancer planning reforms. He works with cancer healthcare professionals, patient organisations, policymakers and cancer planners, and is currently leading the World Bank Group cancer strategy. Useful links Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health and development. The podcast cuts across disciplines, including health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare (antenatal and postnatal care), mental health and wellbeing, vector-borne diseases, climate change and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or miniseries, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| The Global Debate on Obesity Management Medicines | 19 May 2026 | 00:23:25 | |
Weight loss drugs are increasingly dominating headlines, but should they instead be understood as obesity management medicines? This episode of Connecting Citizens to Science explores the growing global debate surrounding GLP-1 medicines, obesity as a complex chronic disease, and the wider implications for health systems, equity and access across different global contexts. The discussion examines the benefits these medicines may offer beyond weight reduction, alongside concerns around affordability, regulation, stigma and widening inequalities between those who can access treatment safely and those who cannot. In this episode: Dr Fatima Cody Stanford - Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr Fatima is an obesity medicine physician-scientist whose work focuses on obesity as a chronic disease, cardiometabolic health and improving equitable access to evidence-based care. Alongside her clinical and research work, she contributes to national and international policy discussions through roles including the Lancet Commission on Obesity and the 2025 US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, while also mentoring underrepresented researchers through NIH-funded programmes. Dr Swarup K. Chakrabarti - Consulting Director at Biotech Consulting Services. Dr Swarup is a biomedical scientist and translational research professional with experience spanning academia, biotechnology and interdisciplinary human health research across India and the United States. His work has explored inflammation, metabolic disease and the wider societal impact of GLP-1 therapies, including questions around long-term health outcomes and access in lower-resource settings. Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your preferred podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health and development. The podcast cuts across disciplines, including health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare (antenatal and postnatal care), mental health and wellbeing, vector-borne diseases, climate change and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or miniseries, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Understanding Gender as a System Part 2 | 30 Jan 2026 | 00:20:25 | |
In this second part of our two-part finale on gender justice, the focus shifts from understanding gender as a system to what it means to act on that understanding in practice. Building on Part 1, the conversation explores how to move beyond gender awareness towards more gender-responsive and gender-transformative approaches. Our guests reflect on the role of power, intersectionality and context, and why frameworks, participation and reflexivity matter for ethical and effective work. The episode reflects on the practical challenges of applying gender frameworks in real-world settings, including how language, framing and collaboration shape what is possible in different contexts. We close by emphasising the importance of connecting gender across research agendas and movements, particularly in a world shaped by overlapping crises. In this episode: Ishrat Jahan - Research Fellow at the Centre for Gender and Sexual and Reproductive Health at BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Ishrat’s research focuses on the intersection of gender, health, and environmental issues. Ishrat is involved in national and international projects exploring the impact of climate change on women’s health, adaptive practices in marginalised communities, and Global South-led curricula in higher education. Dr Rosemary Morgan - Associate Professor, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Dr. Morgan is recognised as a specialist in gender analysis in health and health systems research, interventions, and programs and has published 90 peer-reviewed journal articles. With a focus on women’s health and wellbeing, her research explores methods for gender analysis and examines how gender inequities influence health outcomes and health systems, using qualitative approaches to center lived experiences and challenge structural inequalities. Dr. Morgan co-directs the Gender and Health Summer Institute and coordinates the Gender and Health Certificate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Selima Sara Kabir - Sr Research Associate, BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health Selima is a transdisciplinary, mixed-methods researcher and educator. She holds an MPH from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and her research lies at the intersections of gender, health systems and policy, digital cultures, and social justice. Since 2019, she has led and contributed to interdisciplinary projects exploring relationships, care, and health equity in low- and middle-income country contexts to Global South-led scholarship on gender and transformation. Useful links:
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health and development. The podcast cuts across disciplines, including health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare (antenatal and postnatal care), mental health and wellbeing, vector-borne diseases, climate change and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or miniseries, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Understanding Gender as a System Part 1 | 28 Nov 2025 | 00:17:13 | |
In this first instalment of our two-part finale on gender justice, we explore the foundations needed to understand gender as a social system, one that shapes power, roles, resources and everyday experiences across different contexts. Together with our guests, we look at how gender is embedded within social, economic and institutional structures. The episode examines what gets lost when gender is treated as a separate category, and why complexity, context and lived experience matter for anyone working across health, development or rights. This conversation lays the groundwork for Part 2, where we look at how these insights translate into practice In this episode: Ishrat Jahan - Research Fellow at the Centre for Gender and Sexual and Reproductive Health at BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Ishrat’s research focuses on the intersection of gender, health, and environmental issues. She is involved in national and international projects exploring the impact of climate change on women’s health, adaptive practices in marginalised communities, and Global South-led curricula in higher education. Dr Rosemary Morgan - Associate Professor, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Dr. Morgan is recognised as a specialist in gender analysis in health and health systems research, interventions, and programmes and has published 90 peer-reviewed journal articles. With a focus on women’s health and wellbeing, her research explores methods for gender analysis and examines how gender inequities influence health outcomes and health systems, using qualitative approaches to centre lived experiences and challenge structural inequalities. Dr. Morgan co-directs the Gender and Health Summer Institute and coordinates the Gender and Health Certificate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Selima Sara Kabir - Senior Research Associate, BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health Selima is a transdisciplinary, mixed-methods researcher and educator. She holds an MPH from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and her research lies at the intersections of gender, health systems and policy, digital cultures, and social justice. Since 2019, she has led and contributed to interdisciplinary projects exploring relationships, care, and health equity in low- and middle-income country contexts to Global South-led scholarship on gender and transformation. Useful links:
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health and development. The podcast cuts across disciplines, including health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare (antenatal and postnatal care), mental health and wellbeing, vector-borne diseases, climate change and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or miniseries, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| TB Realities in the UK and Globally | 07 Nov 2025 | 00:18:18 | |
Tuberculosis (TB) is the world’s biggest killer among infectious diseases — and yet it’s curable. While global efforts continue to eliminate TB, the UK’s low incidence rate brings its own set of challenges: delayed diagnoses, persistent stigma, and low public awareness. This episode of Connecting Citizens to Science explores how these factors shape TB care and prevention in the UK, and what it will take to ensure no one is left behind in the global push to end TB. In this episode: Kate Bradfield - Community TB Nursing Team Leader, North Merseyside, University Hospitals of Liverpool Group Kate has been a TB specialist nurse since 2020 and now leads the North Merseyside service, driving quality improvement and community-based support for patients. Her work focuses on ensuring people can complete treatment successfully while managing both clinical and social challenges. Amina Farah - Programme Manager, Latent Tuberculosis Infection Screening Programme, Liverpool Amina has worked in TB since 2016 and brings both professional insight and personal experience, having supported a family member through TB treatment. She leads efforts to identify and treat latent TB infections in at-risk groups, addressing stigma and promoting early diagnosis and awareness. Useful links:
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health and development. The podcast cuts across disciplines, including health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare (antenatal and postnatal care), mental health and wellbeing, vector-borne diseases, climate change and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or miniseries, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Art and Activism for Gender Justice | 03 Oct 2025 | 00:23:02 | |
In this fifth episode of Backlash, Resistance and the Path to Gender Justice, we explore how art and creativity can act as powerful tools for resistance, solidarity, and joy in activism. Moving beyond health into global development, this conversation looks at how artivism resists repression, engages young people, and connects struggles across borders — showing that gender justice is also imagined and sustained through culture and creativity. In this episode: Ishrat Jahan - Research Fellow at the Centre for Gender and Sexual and Reproductive Health at BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Ishrat’s research focuses on the intersection of gender, health, and environmental issues. She is involved in national and international projects exploring the impact of climate change on women’s health, adaptive practices in marginalised communities, and Global South-led curricula in higher education. Trishia Nashtaran - President, OGNIE Foundation, Bangladesh Trishia is a Human-centred Design Specialist and feminist organiser with over a decade of experience in grassroots activism, community building, and futures practice. She is the founder of Meye Network, President of OGNIE Foundation Bangladesh, and coordinates the Feminist Alliance of Bangladesh, amplifying progressive and decolonial feminist voices across local and global spaces. Nusaiba Sultana - Team Leader, Oroddho Foundation, Bangladesh Oroddho Foundation is a youth feminist organisation in Bangladesh that uses art, education, and advocacy to challenge social injustice. Nusaiba oversees initiatives addressing gender discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual violence, and religious and ethnic discrimination, working to tackle these issues at their roots through education and cultural awareness. Useful links
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health and development. This podcast cuts across disciplines, including health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare (antenatal and postnatal care), mental health and wellbeing, vector-borne diseases, climate change and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or miniseries, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Disability and Gender Justice | 29 Aug 2025 | 00:19:25 | |
In this episode of Backlash, Resistance and the Path to Gender Justice, we explore how gender and disability rights intersect in Bangladesh. As civic and digital spaces shrink, women and gender-diverse persons with disabilities face systemic barriers that silence their voices and limit access to rights, services, and representation. We hear from two leading advocates about the structural inequalities that persist, and the ways in which disability-led organisations are resisting exclusion and demanding justice. Advisory note: This episode includes discussion of sensitive topics, including sexual violence. In this episode: Ishrat Jahan - Research Fellow at the Centre for Gender and Sexual and Reproductive Health at BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Ishrat’s research focuses on the intersection of gender, health, and environmental issues. Ishrat is involved in national and international projects exploring the impact of climate change on women’s health, adaptive practices in marginalised communities, and Global South-led curricula in higher education. Salma Mahbub - General Secretary, Bangladesh Society for the Change and Advocacy Nexus (B-SCAN) Salma is the Founder General Secretary of B-SCAN, a women-led DPO in Bangladesh advocating for accessibility, inclusive education, employment, and women’s rights. She also serves as General Secretary of PNSP, a national OPD network. Her work centres on policy advocacy, accessibility, and the empowerment of persons with disabilities. Ayon Debnath - Campaign Adviser, Sightsavers Ayon is a disability rights advocate and Campaign Adviser at Sightsavers, leading the Equal Bangladesh campaign. He works with over 30 organisations to promote inclusive governance, policy reform, and public awareness. Ayon brings over 15 years of national and international experience in advocacy for disability justice. Useful Links (including other episodes in this series)
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health and development. The podcast cuts across disciplines, including health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare (antenatal and postnatal care), mental health and wellbeing, vector-borne diseases, climate change and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or miniseries, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Allyship in Gender Justice | 01 Aug 2025 | 00:21:51 | |
We explore what allyship really means in the fight for gender justice. Co-hosted by Ishrat Jahan from the Countering Backlash, Reclaiming Gender Justice programme, the conversation unpacks how power, privilege, and positionality shape allyship, and how solidarity must move beyond tokenism to be truly transformative. Our guests reflect on allyship within health systems, across movements, and in the face of patriarchal and political backlash in Brazil and India. Part of our mini-series Backlash, Resistance and the Path to Gender Justice, this episode highlights lived experiences and fresh perspectives from long-standing gender justice advocates. In this episode: Ishrat Jahan - Research Fellow at the Centre for Gender and Sexual and Reproductive Health at BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Ishrat’s research focuses on the intersection of gender, health, and environmental issues. Ishrat is involved in national and international projects exploring the impact of climate change on women’s health, adaptive practices in marginalised communities, and Global South-led curricula in higher education. Dr. Abhijit Das - Consultant, SAHAYOG, India Dr. Abhijit Das is a public health physician with over 35 years of work on gender equality and understanding harmful masculinities. He is a co-founder of the MenEngage Global Alliance and COPASAH, and has worked extensively on building bottom-up knowledge for health systems reform. He is currently an Independent Researcher and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Washington in Seattle. Professor Cecilia Sardenberg - Professor of Anthropology and Feminist Studies, NEIM, Federal University of Bahia, Brazil Professor Cecilia Sardenberg is a Brazilian feminist scholar and activist who has worked at the intersection of academia and grassroots organising for more than five decades. She is one of the founders of NEIM, the Women’s Studies Research Centre at the Federal University of Bahia, and currently co-coordinates the Countering Backlash, Reclaiming Justice programme in Brazil. Useful links:
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health and development. The podcast cuts across disciplines, including health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare (antenatal and postnatal care), mental health and wellbeing, vector-borne diseases, climate change and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or miniseries, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Gender Backlash and the Erosion of Everyday Rights | 04 Jul 2025 | 00:23:11 | |
We explore how gender backlash deepens the marginalisation of sex workers in Bangladesh, affecting their access to health, justice, and basic rights. Featuring the voice of a sex worker and insights from gender justice advocates, we examine how shrinking civic space and growing stigma are putting lives at risk, and what can be done to resist. Part of our mini-series Backlash, Resistance, and the Path to Gender Justice. In this episode: Afsana - Committee Member, Kallanmoyee Nari Shongho ‘Afsana’ has been an executive committee member of Kallanmoyee Nari Shongho since 2021. She has been actively engaging with sex workers’ health and rights through HIV prevention work since 2012. Nazia Zebin - Communications Manager, BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health Nazia is an advocate for gender justice and inclusion. She brings over a decade of experience in social justice initiatives, specialising in strategic communication, digital safety, and feminist leadership. Kamrun Nahar – Director, Naripokkho Kamrun is a human rights lawyer and Director at Naripokkho, with over 30 years of experience advancing legal reform and justice for women in Bangladesh. Her work spans legal aid, policy advocacy, and capacity strengthening to challenge structural discrimination and promote gender equality. Useful links
Takeaways:
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health and development. The podcast cuts across disciplines, including health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare (antenatal and postnatal care), mental health and wellbeing, vector-borne diseases, climate change and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or miniseries, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Tackling Gender Backlash During Crises | 30 May 2025 | 00:23:26 | |
*Show correction - Nay El Rahi is introduced in the episode as a journalist. While she previously worked in journalism, her current role is more accurately described as a Lebanese researcher and activist.* In this opening episode of the mini-series, we explore how moments of crisis—from economic collapse to political instability—create fertile ground for anti-feminist backlash. We hear how patriarchal power is mobilised across contexts and how resisting it requires collective action that cuts across sectors, including health. Co-host Ishrat Jahan is joined by Lebanese researcher and activist Nay El Rahi and Kenyan programme officer Alfred Makabira, who share personal reflections and strategies for countering gender backlash in their own work. In this episode: Ishrat Jahan - Research Fellow at the Centre for Gender and Sexual and Reproductive Health at BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Ishrat’s research focuses on the intersection of gender, health, and environmental issues. Ishrat is involved in national and international projects exploring the impact of climate change on women’s health, adaptive practices in marginalised communities, and Global South-led curricula in higher education. Nay El Rahi – Researcher, Lebanese American University, Arab Institute for Women (AiW) Nay is an intersectional feminist writer, researcher, and political activist with over a decade of experience in journalism, research, and programming. Based at the Arab Institute for Women at the Lebanese American University, Nay’s work focuses on anti-feminist backlash, gender-based violence, and kinship in Lebanon. She co-founded HarassTracker, a pioneering tool for reporting sexual harassment in Lebanon, and was named one of the BBC’s 100 Women in 2016. Alfred Makabira - Programme Officer, Advocates for Social Change-Kenya (ADSOCK). Alfred is a human rights advocate working as part of the Countering Backlash: Reclaiming Justice project, developing and implementing practical strategies to help individuals and communities identify, resist, and challenge patriarchal backlash both online and in their local contexts. Useful links:
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health. The podcast cuts across disciplines, including health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare (antenatal and postnatal care), mental health and wellbeing, vector-borne diseases, climate change and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or miniseries, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| The PhD Balancing Act for Lasting Capacity in Practice | 02 May 2025 | 00:19:47 | |
In this final episode of our mini-series on research capacity strengthening, we explore how pursuing a PhD, using the PACTS programme (Patient-centred Sickle Cell Disease Management in sub-Saharan Africa), as a real-world example—can enhance, rather than compete with, clinical practice. Our guests reflect on what it means to balance research with clinical care, teaching, community outreach, and academic responsibilities, and share honest insights about the challenges and opportunities that come with embedding a PhD within a larger programme. From learning by doing to mentoring the next generation, this episode looks at how research can be a powerful tool for real-world impact in health systems. In this episode: Dr. Mmamulatelo Siame Mumba - PhD Student, SBA lead, Project coordinator, Zambia Dr. Mmamulatelo Siame Mumba is a paediatrician and implementation researcher based in Zambia. She is undertaking a PhD with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and leads the Standards-Based Audit teams across PACTS sites while coordinating research activities on the ground. Dr. Hezekiah Isa Albarka - Lecturer at University of Abuja, Nigeria Dr. Hezekiah Isa Albarka is a senior lecturer at the University of Abuja and a haematologist with a long-standing interest in sickle cell disease. He is currently pursuing a PhD through the PACTS project, building on years of experience in clinical care and academic teaching. Dr. Eunice Agyeman Ahmed - PhD Student Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Ghana Dr. Eunice Agyeman Ahmed is a haematologist at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Ghana and a PhD student at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Her research supports adolescents with sickle cell disease transitioning into adult care, alongside her wider advocacy and training work across Ghana and Africa.
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health. The podcast cuts across disciplines, including health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare (antenatal and postnatal care), mental health and wellbeing, vector-borne diseases, climate change and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or miniseries, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Research Capacity Strengthening Is Everyone’s Business | 17 Apr 2025 | 00:23:32 | |
In this second episode of our mini-series on Research Capacity Strengthening (RCS), we explore what it means to widen the focus of capacity strengthening, beyond researchers and clinicians, to include media, programme managers, community leaders, teachers, caregivers, and more. Hosted on location at the PACTS Year 3 Partners Meeting, this episode shows how the PACTS programme (Patient-centred Sickle Cell Disease Management in sub-Saharan Africa) has embedded a more inclusive and cyclical approach to RCS. You’ll hear how strengthening media capacity, using content analysis, and co-developing strategies with non-clinical stakeholders can make health systems more responsive and sustainable. We also look at how information itself, when shared in the right way with patients and communities, can be a powerful form of capacity strengthening. In this episode: Dr. Motto Nganda – Global Health Researcher: Collaborative Implementation Research for Health Systems Strengthening, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Motto is a medical and public health professional from the University of Douala and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. He brings over six years’ experience in participatory implementation research, focusing on person-centred care and health system strengthening in the Global South. In PACTS, Motto supports implementation research across all three countries, coordinating participatory action cycles, standards-based audits, and realist evaluation. Bernard Appiah - Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health, Falk College, Syracuse University Bernard is a pharmacist, journalist, and Assistant Professor at the Department of Public Health, Syracuse University, USA. He is also Director of the Centre for Science and Health Communication in Ghana. With expertise in media, health communication, and public engagement, Bernard leads the media content analysis and communication work for PACTS. His work connects journalists and researchers, builds capacity through joint training, and strengthens how sickle cell disease is communicated across public platforms and policy. Reuben Chianumba - Programme Manager for the PACTS Project, Centre of Excellence for Sickle Cell Research and Training (CESRTA), University of Abuja Reuben is the Programme Manager for PACTS in Nigeria, with a background in Medical Biochemistry and extensive experience in research coordination, stakeholder engagement, and community mobilisation. He supports the delivery of PACTS objectives at CESRTA and plays a key role in integrating newborn screening, capacity-building workshops, and local advocacy efforts. Useful Links:
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health. The podcast cuts across disciplines, including health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare (antenatal and postnatal care), mental health and wellbeing, vector-borne diseases, climate change and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or miniseries, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Strengthening Research Capacity for Global Health Equity | 11 Apr 2025 | 00:27:06 | |
Welcome to our new mini-series on research capacity strengthening, produced in partnership with the Centre for Capacity Research at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. In this first episode, we explore the design of a Research Capacity Strengthening (RCS) component within an implementation research project, and why it is crucial for sustainable, patient-centred healthcare. Our conversation draws insights from those actively embedding RCS into their work, demonstrating how improving research skills and systems drives real impact in global health. In this episode: Dr. Justin Pulford - Reader at the Centre for Capacity Research, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Dr. Justin Pulford is Deputy Head of the Centre for Capacity Research (CCR) at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM). A behavioural scientist by training, he has extensive experience developing, implementing, and evaluating research and health systems strengthening initiatives across sub-Saharan Africa and the South Pacific. Dr Pulford also convenes the ‘TROP 703: Public Health Programmes, Policies and Strategies’ module for LSTM’s MPH programme. Professor Obiageli Nnodu - Co-lead of the PACTS programme, University of Abuja. Professor Obiageli Nnodu is Professor of Haematology and Blood Transfusion at the University of Abuja, Nigeria, and Director of its Centre of Excellence for Sickle Cell Disease Research and Training. She leads multiple NIH-funded sickle cell projects and chairs Africa’s largest SCD network. Professor Nnodu also advises the Nigerian government on non-communicable diseases and serves on WHO AFRO committees dedicated to improving sickle cell care. Professor Alex Osei-Akoto - Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana Professor Alex Osei-Akoto is Principal Investigator for PACTS in Ghana. A Professor of Child Health at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and Consultant Paediatrician at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, he has focused on sickle cell disease for over two decades. Professor Osei-Akoto led key newborn screening initiatives, advised Ghana’s Ministry of Health on SCD, and co-authored numerous publications. He now spearheads PACTS implementation in Ghana, building on his extensive clinical and research leadership in paediatric haematology. Dr. Catherine Chunda-Liyoka - University of Zambia Dr. Catherine Chunda-Liyoka is Head of the Paediatric Haematology Department at Zambia’s University Teaching Hospitals–Children’s Hospital. She provides specialised care in sickle cell disease, haemophilia, aplastic anaemia, HIV, and TB, while leading multiple research initiatives. As an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Zambia and an Honorary Fellow at LSTM, she mentors health workers nationwide. Dr. Chunda-Liyoka also advises the Zambian Ministry of Health on paediatric haematology and infectious diseases, and plays a key role in major SCD networks—including SPARCO and PACTS—to strengthen national guidelines and clinical practices. Useful links
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health. The podcast cuts across disciplines, including health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare (antenatal and postnatal care), mental health and wellbeing, vector-borne diseases, climate change and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or miniseries, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Why Indigenous Knowledge is Essential for Health Justice | 21 Mar 2025 | 00:19:49 | |
Global health systems have long been shaped by Western frameworks that separate health from land, environment, and community. But for Indigenous communities worldwide, health is holistic—deeply rooted in ancestral knowledge, cultural traditions, and reciprocal relationships with nature. Yet, Indigenous ways of knowing have been overlooked and undervalued within research, policymaking, and health interventions. How can we shift this paradigm and centre Indigenous-led approaches in global health? In this episode, we speak with Dr. Walter Flores, Dr. Rebecca Rae, and Dr. Lorenda Belone about Indigenous communities in health research, examining systemic barriers, the importance of Indigenous knowledge in health equity, navigating differences between Indigenous and Western research approaches, and how policy shifts impact Indigenous communities. We also discuss the connection between research, activism, and advocacy. Our guests: Dr. Walter Flores - Research Professor, Accountability Research Center, American University, Washington DC, USA Dr. Walter Flores is a social scientist and human rights advocate with over 25 years of professional experience. He holds a PhD and a Masters of Community Health from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK. Dr Flores’ professional work has been carried out in more than 30 countries from Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe. His areas of expertise are health systems and policy, right to health and indigenous populations, democratic governance, social accountability, legal empowerment and community participation. Currently, Dr Flores is research professor at the Accountability Research Center, American University, Washington DC and a research associate at the Center for the Study of Equity and Governance in Health Systems. Dr. Lorenda Belone – Professor, University of New Mexico College of Population Health / Center for Participatory Research Dr. Belone (Diné/Navajo) is from Naakaii Bito’ located on the Navajo Nation and has been engaged in community-based participatory research (CBPR) with an Indigenous paradigm focused on health disparities with southwest tribal nations. Her research includes partnerships with Tribal Research Teams (Apache, Navajo & Pueblo) on an Indigenous family prevention program called the Family Listening Program (FLP). As an Indigenous CBPR researcher, Dr. Belone integrates her own cultural and tribal knowledge to overcome historical negative research experiences and tribal community members’ perceptions of research exploitation. Rebecca Rae, MCRP, MWR - Research Lecturer III, University of New Mexico College of Population Health Rebecca Rae (Jicarilla Apache), MCRP, MWR, is a Research Lecturer III at the University of New Mexico’s College of Population Health. She is an Indigenous scholar, with eighteen years of implementing community-based participatory research (CBPR) projects and Indigenous participatory evaluation in partnership with Tribal communities. She works closely with multiple tribal community partners to mentor, strengthen, and enhance community members’ skills in program development, implementation, data collection, data analysis, grant writing, research, and evaluation. Useful links: Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health. The podcast cuts across disciplines, including health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare (antenatal and postnatal care), mental health and wellbeing, vector-borne diseases, climate change and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or miniseries, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Shifting Power in Global Health: Equity, Leadership and Change | 04 Feb 2025 | 00:28:04 | |
Global health systems are built on power structures that often exclude the very voices that should be leading the conversation. Funding, publishing, and policymaking have long been dominated by high-income countries, creating systemic barriers to equity. In this episode, Dr. Shashika Bandara (McGill School of Population and Global Health), Dr. Moses Tetui (Umeå University & University of Waterloo), and Dr. Joseph Mumba Zulu (University of Zambia) discuss two major initiatives that challenge these structures: The Lancet article: Shifting Power in Global Health Will Require Leadership by the Global South and Allyship by the Global North and The launch of the Journal of Community Systems for Health, a new platform breaking barriers in global publishing and knowledge sharing. In this episode: Dr. Shashika Bandara - Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Global and Public Health, School of Population and Global Health, McGill University. Shashika Bandara is a Sri Lankan post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Global Public Health in the School of Population and Global Health at McGill University. He co-leads McGill University’s research examining policy exemplars successfully addressing structural discrimination with O’Neill-Lancet Commission on Racism, Structural Discrimination and Global Health. Dr. Joseph Mumba Zulu - Associate Professor of Community, School of Public Health, University of Zambia Joseph M Zulu is a co-founder and Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Community Systems for Health, a platform dedicated to promoting inclusive, socially accountable, and community-driven health systems research. He is an Associate Professor of Community Health at the School of Public Health and has been involved in community-based implementation research projects in different countries across Africa. Dr. Moses Tetui - Assistant professor, University of Waterloo, Canada and Umeå University, Sweden Dr. Moses Tetui is a Health Systems Researcher who specialises in using participatory methods to collaborate with diverse communities and stakeholders to address health system challenges. He serves as a founding board member of the Journal of Community Systems for Health. Moses collaborates with researchers, communities, and decision-makers to explore climate change adaptation strategies for communities living in informal settlements across Africa. Useful links:
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health. The podcast cuts across disciplines, including health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare (antenatal and postnatal care), mental health and wellbeing, vector-borne diseases, climate change and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or miniseries, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| 3rd ‘From the Halls’ of the Health Systems Research Symposium | 24 Nov 2024 | 00:18:06 | |
Our final episode from the Health Systems Research Symposium in Nagasaki showcases transformative ideas in global health systems research and policy. This episode features discussions on interdisciplinary capacity building, decolonising health policy research, One Health approaches, and advancing gender equity in health systems. Dr. Hanna-Tina Fischer explores innovative capacity-building models and interdisciplinary research frameworks. Dr. Ayat Abu-Agla discusses the importance of decolonisation in health policy and systems research. Dr. Rosie Steege highlights the interconnectedness of humans, animals, and ecosystems through One Health and its implications for antimicrobial resistance. Finally, Dr. Zahra Zeinali reflects on her work advancing gender mainstreaming and intersectionality in health systems research. This episode offers fresh perspectives for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers dedicated to creating equitable and resilient health systems. In this episode: From ReBUILD for Resilience: Abriti Arjyal -Research Manager, HERD International Thazin La - Research manager for the health systems research programme, Burnet Institute Myanmar Our Guests: Hanna-Tina Fischer – Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin Dr. Ayat Abu-Agla - Health Services Management Centre Lead, University of Birmingham, Dubai Dr. Rosie Steege – Lecturer, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Zahra Zeinali – Doctoral Candidate, Department of Global Health, University of Washington. Useful links:
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health. The podcast covers topics like health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare, mental health, vector-borne diseases, climate change, and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or mini-series, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| 2nd 'From the Halls' of the Health Systems Research Symposium | 21 Nov 2024 | 00:10:38 | |
Recorded live at the Eighth Global Symposium on Health Systems Research, the episode focuses on the challenges and opportunities of delivering health care in fragile and conflict-affected settings. Collaborating with researchers from the ReBUILD for Resilience consortium, we hear from three inspiring voices tackling displacement, migration, and exclusion in health care. Dr. Cynthia Maung shares insights on creating governance structures for health care delivery to displaced populations along the Thai-Myanmar border. Dr. Roshan Pokhrel from Nepal reflects on using research to address workforce challenges amid migration and climate change. Finally, Lydia DiStefano highlights the critical role of community health workers in providing equitable care to vulnerable populations and shares exciting plans for the upcoming Community Health Workers Symposium in Bangkok. This episode offers vital lessons for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers committed to building resilient health systems in fragile settings. In this episode: From ReBUILD for Resilience: Karen Miller – Communications Officer, Liverpool School Tropical Medicine Shophika Regmi - Senior Manager: Health System Research, Evaluation and Learning, HERD International, Nepal Thazin La - Research manager for the health systems research programme, Burnet Institute Myanmar Our Guests: Dr. Cynthia Maung – Mae Tae Clinic Dr. Roshan Pokhrel – Secretary Ministry of Health Population, Nepal Lydia DiStefano – Senior Research and Advocacy Manager, Community Partners International Useful links:
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health. The podcast covers topics like health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare, mental health, vector-borne diseases, climate change, and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or mini-series, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| 1st 'From the Halls' of the Health Systems Research Symposium | 20 Nov 2024 | 00:17:01 | |
In this special episode, recorded live at the 8th Global Symposium on Health Systems Research (HSR2024) in Nagasaki, we explore key themes shaping the global health landscape. This episode brings together voices from the halls of HSR2024, where our host and researchers from the ReBUILD for Resilience programme have been capturing insightful conversations with experts on resilience, climate, and just health systems. Hosted by Dr. Kim Ozano, this episode includes interviews with inspiring speakers tackling complex global health challenges, from conflict-affected settings to ethical health financing. Join us as we share dynamic discussions and explore what they mean for the future of health systems. In this episode From ReBUILD for Resilience: Rouham Yamout – Programme Coordinator, American University of Beruit Karen Miller – Communications Officer, Liverpool School Tropical Medicine Our Guests: Ana Amaya – Board Member, Health Systems Global Dr. Ali Ardalan - Regional Advisor and Head of Health Systems Resilience Unit, WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region. Dr. Usman Gwarzo – LAFIYA programme, Nigeria Useful links:
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health. The podcast covers topics like health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare, mental health, vector-borne diseases, climate change, and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or mini-series, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Health systems in times of peace and conflict | 08 Nov 2024 | 00:20:52 | |
In this special “warm-up” episode for the Global Symposium on Health Systems Research (HSR2024) in Nagasaki, Japan, we explore the conference themes, their relevance to global health, and the critical role of resilient health systems in fragile settings. This episode offers insights for attendees and those interested in health systems worldwide, examining the intersection of conflict and crisis, climate resilience, justice, and governance in building sustainable, people-centered health systems. ReBUILD for Resilience team members share how their work aligns with the conference themes, highlighting the importance of supporting vulnerable communities in challenging contexts. See 'useful links' for previous health systems strengthening episodes. In this episode: Kate Hawkins - Managing Director, Pamoja Communications Kate has extensive experience working with research partners to develop strategies, engage stakeholders, and create impactful communication products. Skilled at translating academic research for diverse audiences, she has years of experience across NGOs, academia, and the private sector. Kate has managed numerous websites and platforms to promote research and foster partnerships, enhancing demand for research communications by engaging policymakers, brokering academia-government partnerships, and building capacity for evidence use. Joanna Khalil – Research Fellow, American University of Beirut and ReBUILD for Resilience Joanna is a research fellow and a public health practitioner working with various communities around Lebanon, including refugees, in formal and informal settlements. Her key strength is qualitative research methodology. She has been involved in a multinational research study, exploring tobacco and waterpipe smoking, as well as health warnings, translating findings to policies. She carried out baseline assessments and evaluations of health and social centres in underprivileged areas and refugee camps, aiming at strengthening the health response in emergencies on topics related to reproductive health, mental health, education, WASH, cash assistance, emergency relief, resilience and child labour. Shophika Regmi - Senior Manager: Health System Research, Evaluation and Learning, HERD International, Nepal Shophika Regmi is a health systems researcher at HERD International, Nepal, leading learning site research for the ReBUILD for Resilience consortium. With over a decade of experience, her work focuses on enhancing local health system resilience through improved governance and evidence-based planning. Shophika has led numerous projects to strengthen health outcomes for marginalised groups across areas like maternal health, nutrition, climate change, and health information systems. Useful links:
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health. The podcast covers topics like health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare, mental health, vector-borne diseases, climate change, and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or mini-series, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Sustaining Maternal Health Gains | 04 Oct 2024 | 00:20:41 | |
In this episode of Connecting Citizens to Science, we conclude our three-part miniseries on improving maternal and newborn healthcare. Host Dr. Kim Ozano and her guests explore how to sustain quality improvements in health systems and progress toward maternal and newborn Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Dr. Rael Mutai, Regional Technical Advisor for Maternal and Newborn Health at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Kenya, and Dr. Nicholas Furtado, Senior Medical Advisor at Global Fund, share their insights on the successes and challenges of embedding sustainable practices in maternal and newborn healthcare systems across Kenya, Tanzania, and Nigeria. (see 'useful links' for the other episodes from the series). Chapter List: 00:00:00 – Introduction to Sustainability and SDG Goals 00:01:52 – Progress Towards Maternal and Newborn Health indicators 00:04:50 – Global Landscape: The Impact of the Pandemic 00:06:37 – Addressing Inequities within Countries 00:09:26 – Healthcare Workers and Sustainable Outcomes 00:12:22 – Intersectionality and Broader Determinants of Maternal Health 00:17:38 – Advice and Call to Action for Sustainable Solutions In this episode: Dr. Rael Mutai - Regional Technical Advisor (MNH), Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Tropical Kenya Rael is a public health specialist with over 21 years’ of experience in health and development. She is passionate about health systems strengthening, Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights and Quality Maternal and Newborn Health. Rael has been involved with the quality improvement programme in the last 3 years, as the Regional Technical Adviser for Kenya and Tanzania. The Programme uses global evidence customised to country context for improved maternal and newborn outcomes. The programme has addressed gaps in ANC-PNC service delivery through capacity building of healthcare workers and integrated approaches to care. Dr. Nicolas Furtado - Senior Medical Advisor, Global Fund Nicolas is a Senior Medical Advisor with the Health System Strengthening Technical Advice and Partnerships team at the Global Fund. He is deeply engaged in efforts to strengthen primary healthcare systems globally, particularly focusing on improving maternal and newborn health outcomes and now focusing on improving access to medical oxygen and respiratory care. Throughout his work, Nicolas has been instrumental in addressing key challenges such as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare inequities, and the need for sustainable, locally adapted solutions. He advocates for simple, effective, and culturally appropriate interventions to ensure quality care at the point of service delivery. Useful links:
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health. The podcast covers topics like health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare, mental health, vector-borne diseases, climate change, and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or mini-series, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Strengthening the Health Workforce for Maternal and Newborn Care | 02 Oct 2024 | 00:21:56 | |
Join us as we focus on how capacity strengthening in healthcare can transform maternal and newborn care outcomes, in the second episode of our three-part miniseries, "Transforming Maternal and Newborn Health". The discussion highlights the critical role of health workers, from nurses to doctors, and the importance of building skills, teamwork, and communication to improve early diagnosis and reduce complications. Experts share insights on training approaches, challenges faced, and the transformative impact of mentorship and continuous professional development in Kenya, Tanzania, and beyond. This episode offers valuable lessons for health systems strengthening and sets the stage for our next conversation on sustainability. Chapter List: 00:00:00 – Introduction to Capacity Strengthening 00:01:11 – Role of Health Workers in Maternal and Newborn Care 00:02:19 – Challenges in Achieving High-Quality Care 00:04:52 – Impact of Continuous Professional Development 00:05:51 – Real-Life Improvements in Diagnosis and Care 00:09:28 – Competency-Based Training Approaches 00:12:20 – Shifting Attitudes and Respectful Maternity Care 00:14:01 – Research Integration and Policy Influence 00:16:13 – Key Advice for Capacity Strengthening 00:20:06 – Conclusion and What’s Next In this episode: Dr. Rael Mutai, Regional Technical Advisor (MNH), Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Tropical Rael is a public health specialist with over 21 years’ of experience in health and development. She is passionate about health systems strengthening, Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights and Quality Maternal and Newborn Health. Rael has been involved with the programme in the last 3 years, as the Regional Technical Adviser for Kenya and Tanzania. The Programme uses global evidence customised to country context for improved maternal and newborn outcomes. The programme has addressed gaps in ANC-PNC service delivery through capacity building of healthcare workers and integrated approaches to care. Dr. Leonard Katalambula – Lecturer, University of Dodoma Dr. Katalambula is the Head of the Department of Public Health at the University of Dodoma (UDOM), where he has worked for over 15 years. He also serves as Board Chairperson for Action Against Hunger (Tanzania) and is a technical committee member of TWG 6, focusing on reproductive, maternal, child, and adolescent health. An experienced researcher with publications in implementation science and public health, Dr. Katalambula leads projects on Quality Improvement of Integrated HIV, TB, and Malaria Services during antenatal and postnatal care, as well as the MEGA project. For the past 15 years, he has worked closely with communities, addressing challenges through research and community services. Sylvia Kimtai – Midwife, Uasin Gishu County Sylvia is currently attached to the county reproductive health office coordinating the elimination of maternal-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B and also quality improvement. She has been involved in ANC/PNC and quality improvement training supporting Kenya and Tanzania in both face-to-face and blended learning Sylvia mentors nurses, midwives, and clinical officers on quality improvement in ANC/PNC in Uasin Gishu County, also supporting sub-county reproductive health coordinators in the mentorship of service providers on ANC/PNC. Passionate about quality improvement, she has a WhatsApp platform where facility quality improvement chairpersons share best practices and challenges. Useful links:
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health. The podcast covers topics like health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare, mental health, vector-borne diseases, climate change, and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or mini-series, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Quality Innovations in Maternal and Newborn Health | 30 Sep 2024 | 00:19:29 | |
In this first episode of our three-part miniseries, "Transforming Maternal and Newborn Health," we dive into a groundbreaking quality improvement programme that has made significant strides in integrating HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria services into antenatal and postnatal care across Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania. We explore emerging evidence on how health systems can adapt and respond to changing landscapes, including the impact of COVID-19, to deliver better outcomes for mothers and newborns. Featuring insights from leading experts, we discuss the challenges, successes, and innovative approaches that have strengthened the capacity of health workers and improved access to essential care. This episode sets the stage for the next discussions on capacity building and sustainability, making it a must-listen for anyone interested in global health and health systems strengthening. Chapters: 00:00:00 – Introduction and Series Overview 00:01:30 – Responding to COVID-19 and Building Resilience 00:03:20 – Maternal Health Challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa 00:04:45 – Strengthening Health Workforce Capacity 00:06:20 – Key Findings and Lessons Learned 00:08:04 – Addressing Gender-Based Violence and Mental Health 00:09:17 – Practical Impact and Stories from Nigeria 00:11:54 – Next Steps and Future Recommendations 00:14:19 – Adapting to COVID-19 Challenges 00:17:15 – Final Advice and Conclusions In this episode: Dr. Rael Mutai, Regional Technical Advisor (MNH), Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Tropical Rael is a public health specialist with over 21 years’ experience in health and development. She is passionate about health systems strengthening, Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights and Quality Maternal and Newborn Health. Rael has been involved with the programme in the last 3 years, as the Regional Technical Adviser for Kenya and Tanzania. The Programme uses global evidence customized to country context for improved maternal and newborn outcomes. The programme has addressed gaps in ANC-PNC service delivery through capacity building of healthcare workers and integrated approaches to care. Prof. Charles Ameh - Programme Lead, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Charles led the implementation of the GF ANC/PNC quality improvement programme in the last 3 years. This involves identifying problems and co-creating solutions with stakeholders in Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria. Key interventions designed and tested during this programme are relevant to several communities: maternity care providers, researchers, MNH programme managers, health professional associations and regulatory bodies, training institutions, women of reproductive age and their families in LMICs. Dr. Oladipo Aremu, Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist, Adeoyo Maternity Teaching Hospital , Oyo State, Nigeria Dr Oladipo Aremu has been involved in research work relating to post-partum haemorrhage, maternal and child health for the last three years. His contribution to the post-partum haemorrhage research has helped to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality. During the period of the research, the cost of the drug administered on patients resulted in remarkable cost savings when compared to cost of blood transfusion. Previous research activities involved in also contributed to improvement in respectful maternity care and upgrading the health worker-patient relationship. Useful links:
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health. The podcast covers topics like health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare, mental health, vector-borne diseases, climate change, and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or mini-series, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Health Systems Financing in Fragile Settings | 27 Sep 2024 | 00:22:36 | |
In this episode, we examine the critical role of health systems financing, especially in fragile and conflict-affected settings. Our expert guests discuss how different governance challenges, external actors, and political landscapes shape health financing. We explore strategies to make efficient use of resources and ensure essential services for vulnerable populations. (See ‘useful links’ for links to the other 5 episodes from the series). Chapters: 00:00 – Introduction to the Podcast and Today’s Topic 01:00 – What is Health Systems Financing? 02:56 – Challenges of Health Financing in Crisis Situations 05:17 – The Role of External Actors in Health Financing 07:34 – The Complexity of Parallel Health Systems 09:30 – Financing for Long-Term Recovery 13:22 – Health Financing Innovations and Examples from the Field 17:26 – Advice for Improving Health Financing in Crisis Settings 20:34 – Final Thoughts and Next Episode Teaser In this episode: Dr. Maria Bertone – Reader, Institute for Global Health and Development, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh A health systems specialist with extensive experience in health financing, governance, and service delivery in fragile and conflict-affected settings. Dr. Awad Mataria - Director, UHC/Health Systems, WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean Since his early life – born in a refugee camp and spending childhood under occupation – and throughout his professional career, Dr. Mataria developed a special interest in working in fragile and conflict-affected settings. He is an expert in health economics, focusing on conflict-affected settings and global health system reforms. Dr. Ibrahim Bou Orm – Lecturer, Institute for Global Health and Development, Queen Margaret University Edinburgh A leading expert in health systems and financing, with deep knowledge in governance and health system recovery in conflict-affected regions, particularly in the Middle East. Useful Links
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health. The podcast covers topics like health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare, mental health, vector-borne diseases, climate change, and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or miniseries, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Migration, Displacement and Health Systems | 23 Aug 2024 | 00:24:45 | |
In this fifth episode of our six-part miniseries (see notes for 'useful links' to other episodes), we examine the intersection of migration, displacement, and health systems in fragile settings. With over 1 billion people on the move globally, including 84 million forcibly displaced, this episode addresses the challenges and opportunities that migration presents to health systems. Our co-host, Dr. Joanna Raven, joins us alongside Professor Fouad Fouad and Dr. Santino Severoni, to share their experiences and insights on how health systems can respond to the needs of migrants and refugees through integration, cultural changes, and evidence-based practices. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the discussion on migration, displacement, and health systems resilience in fragile settings 01:00 Meet the Experts: Professor Fouad Mohammad Fouad and Dr. Santino Severoni 02:56 Global Migration and Displacement: Setting the Scene 07:56 Challenges Faced by Health Systems 09:13 Integration and Parallel Health Systems 13:11 WHO's Role and Strategic Approaches 17:11 Examples of Good Practices from Different Countries 21:48 Final Thoughts and Advice for Future Work 24:12 Conclusion and Next Episode Teaser In this episode: Dr Joanna Raven - Reader in health systems, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Jo has worked in global health for more than 25 years, focusing on strengthening health systems. Jo is a researcher with a passion for co-designing and implementing health system research with local stakeholders including community members, health workers, health managers and decision makers. As a health worker herself, Jo’s work focuses on supporting the health workforce to deliver people-centred care that is of good quality and leaves no one behind. Dr. Fouad Fouad - Professor of Global Health and Social Sciences, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Fouad has extensive research on migration and health, focusing on multidisciplinary approaches to forced displacement, health systems in humanitarian settings, and the political economy of health in protracted crises. Fouad is also the IDRC Chair of the Forced Displacement Program in the Middle East and the Co-Director of the Refugee Health Program at the Global Health Institute. His role as a member of several technical working groups, including the WHO Global Consultation on the Health of Migrants and Refugees and the Global Research Agenda on Health and Migration, underscores his expertise and influence in the field. Fouad served as a commissioner in the UCL-Lancet Commission on Migration and Health (2018) and is currently a commissioner in the Lancet Commission on Health, Conflict, and Forced Migration. Dr. Santino Severoni - Director of the WHO Department of Health and Migration, World Health Organization Dr. Severoni is the Director of the Department of Health and Migration at WHO headquarters in Geneva. With over 24 years of experience, he has held senior roles at the WHO Regional Office for Europe and worked globally in health sector reforms, system strengthening, and complex emergency management. His career includes serving as WHO Representative in Albania and Tajikistan. Since 2011, he has focused on public health aspects of migration, leading efforts to implement global migration and refugee compacts and coordinating WHO’s first World Report on the Health of Refugees and Migrants. Useful links
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about current research and debates within global health. The podcast cuts across disciplines, including health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTDs, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare (antenatal and postnatal care), mental health and wellbeing, vector-borne diseases, climate change and co-production approaches. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or miniseries, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Non-state and informal actors in fragile settings | 02 Aug 2024 | 00:18:42 | |
In this episode, we explore the critical role of non-state actors and informal providers in health systems within fragile settings. Our guests share insights on the legitimacy, roles and challenges of informal and non-state actors. This is the fourth episode in the six-part miniseries "Stories of Resilience: Local Lives and Health Systems," brought to you by ReBUILD for Resilience (see ‘useful links’ for links to the other episodes from the series). Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Connecting Citizens to Science 00:14 Overview of ReBUILD for Resilience 00:31 Non-State Actors and Informal Providers in Health Systems 01:12 Introducing the Guests 02:31 Understanding Non-State and Informal Actors 03:19 Current Situations in Myanmar and Sierra Leone 04:59 Roles and Impact of Informal Providers 07:59 Challenges and Coordination in Crisis Situations 14:02 Advice for Improving Health Systems in Fragile Settings 18:04 Conclusion and Final Thoughts In this episode: Dr. Karin Diaconu - Reader, Research Lead, Institute for Global Health and Development Karin is a health policy and systems researcher interested in how to achieve better health outcomes for disadvantaged groups and persons living in fragile, conflict affected and vulnerable settings. She has been involved with the ReBUILD for Resilience programme since it began and is interested in understanding how communities and health systems can better work together to support health, particularly in situations where communities have often been disempowered due to longstanding crises. Dr. Kyu Kyu Than - Research Director, Burnet Institute Myanmar Kyu Kyu is a health system researcher from Myanmar who is passionate about advocating for gender-equitable and inclusive healthcare access for the most vulnerable population. She is currently a Research Director at Burnet Institute Myanmar and is also one of the Principal Investigator for the ReBUILD consortium. Her expertise and leadership in public health have earned her recognition both nationally and internationally, making her a pivotal figure in shaping health policies and initiatives in Myanmar. She is a researcher who is well known for her dedication and courage towards health policy shift for the health care workers in the least developed communities. Ayesha Idriss - Principal Investigator, ReBUILD for Resilience - Sierra Leone, Institute for Development (IfD) Ayesha is a seasoned pharmacist, dedicated educator, and accomplished multidisciplinary researcher. As the research lead at the Institute for Development (IfD) for the ReBUILD for Resilience programme, Ayesha focuses on strengthening health systems in fragile and conflict-affected states. Her research addresses critical health challenges in Sierra Leone, including non-communicable disease interventions, Community Health Workers (CHW) motivation and health policy implementation. Pursuing a PhD in Global Health at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, her doctoral research enhances healthcare delivery in diverse communities, including the informal health sector, emphasising culturally sensitive approaches. Ayesha’s work bridges research and practice, fostering positive change in healthcare systems and promoting equity in access to healthcare services. Useful Links;
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about the ways that researchers connect with people to co-produce solutions to global challenges. The podcast cuts across disciplines, including health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTD’s, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare (antenatal and postnatal care), mental health and wellbeing, vector-borne diseases, climate change, Participatory Action Research (PAR), co-production and participatory methods - all linked to community inclusion, engagement and shifting power dynamics. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or mini-series, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| The Health Workforce in Times of Crisis | 12 Jul 2024 | 00:25:45 | |
In this episode, we discuss the challenges faced by the health workforce in fragile settings such as conflict zones and areas hit by political and economic crises. Our guests share their first-hand experiences and insights on how health systems and workers strive to provide care under extreme conditions. This episode is part of the six-part mini-series "Stories of Resilience: Local Lives and Health Systems," brought to you by ReBUILD for Resilience (see 'useful links' for links to the other episodes from this series). During this episode, there are repeated references to war and conflict with first-hand experiences of illness and trauma which you may find distressing. Chapters 00:00 Welcome to Connecting Citizens to Science 00:42 Introduction to the Health Workforce in Fragile Settings 01:20 Insights from Dr. Nasher Al-Aghbari in Yemen 01:46 Global Challenges with Dr. Jim Campbell 02:32 Welcoming Remarks by Dr. Kim Ozano 02:53 Dr. Wesam Mansour on Health Workers in Gaza 04:08 Dr. Nasher’s Experiences in Yemen 07:39 The Role of WHO with Dr. Jim Campbell 10:53 System vs. Individual Resilience 12:46 International Support and Building Resilience 15:18 Emergency Response vs. Long-Term Efforts 17:21 Health Worker Migration Issues 21:55 Key Advice for Strengthening Resilience 24:48 Concluding Remarks and Call to Action In this episode: Dr Wesam Mansour, Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK. Wesam is a physician, a Paediatric and Neonatology Specialist and a Fellow at the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua), with a Ph.D. in Health Policy and Management. At Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Wesam is a research associate at the Department of International Public Health. For the ReBUILD programme, she coordinates the work with ReBUILD’s country partners, particularly those in Lebanon. Dr Nasher Al-Aghbari - Head of Paediatric Department, Al-Thawra General Modern Teaching Hospital, Sana'a, Yemen. Nasher Al-Aghbari is a paediatric consultant in the Paediatric Department at Al-Thawra General Teaching Modern Hospital in Sana’a, Yemen. He is the Head of the Paediatric Emergency Department. He is also a member of the Teaching Panel in the Arab Board Membership. He has undertaken research for the past 15 years. As part of his Masters degree and PhD at LSTM, Dr. Al-Aghbari worked on blood diseases in children in Africa and Yemen and pulmonary childhood tuberculosis in Yemen. Mr Jim Campbell - Director of the Health Workforce Department, World Health Organization, Geneva. Jim Campbell is the Director of the Health Workforce Department at the World Health Organisation. He oversees the development and implementation of global public goods, evidence and tools to inform investments in the education, employment and retention of the health and care workforce in pursuit of global health security, universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals. Useful links:
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about ways that researchers connect with communities and co-produce solutions to global health challenges. The podcast covers wide-ranging topics such as NTD’s, NCD’s, antenatal and postnatal care, mental wellbeing and climate change, all linked to community engagement and power dynamics. If you would like your own project or programme to feature in an episode, get in touch with producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Gender, health systems resilience and equity | 31 May 2024 | 00:21:38 | |
Gender and Health Systems in Fragile Settings In the second episode of a six-part mini-series by ReBUILD for Resilience, we explore the intersection of gender and health systems in fragile settings (see 'useful links' for links to the other episodes from this series). Hosted by Kim and co-hosted by Abriti Arjyal from HERD International, the episode features insights from Dr. Rouham Yamout from the American University of Beirut and Dr. Val Percival from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) at Carleton University. The discussion covers the impact of gender dynamics on health systems during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and armed conflicts, emphasising community-led, participatory approaches to promote gender equality and resilience in health systems. Chapters 00:00 Welcome to Connecting Citizens to Science 00:29 Exploring Gender and Health Systems Resilience 01:17 Introducing Our Experts and Their Perspectives 02:30 The Impact of Gender on Health Systems and Resilience 03:22 Global Insights on Gender, Health, and Resilience 10:05 Participatory Approaches to Addressing Gender Norms 18:21 Concluding Thoughts and Advice on Gender in Health Systems 21:05 Farewell and Invitation to Explore More In this episode In this episode: Abriti Arjyal -Research Manager, HERD International Abriti is leading on HERD International’s qualitative and participatory approaches in ReBUILD for Resilience. She has a focus on gender and intersectionality. She has experience in public health, health systems, service delivery research, social science and gender and equity. She has led formative and operational field studies, evaluation studies, and literature reviews, developing expertise in design, implementation and analysis of qualitative research, rapid ethnography and various community and participatory based approaches. Most of Abriti’s work has focused on gender and resilience, including maternal and child health, antibiotic resistance, disaster risk reduction and resilience, nutrition, diabetes and violence against women. Dr. Rouham Yamout – Project Coordinator, American University of Beirut Rouham works at the American University of Beirut. She was a medical doctor for 20 years before moving into public health where she now focuses on health system research and strengthening access to quality healthcare. She has extensive research experience with projects involving internally displaced people’s mental health, the ethics of research in war time and waterpipe smoking among adolescents. Rouham has worked for International Red Cross where she was a trainer in the clinical management of rape and sexual assault, Lebanese University as an instructor in research design for nursing students and in UN organisations looking at immunisation, nutrition and refugees’ health. Dr. Valerie Percival - Associate Professor, Norman Paterson School of International Affairs Val’s research focuses on the impact of violent conflict on the health of civilians, backlash against gender equality, as well as gender norms and health care delivery. She is a Commissioner for The Lancet Commission on Peaceful Societies through Health and Gender Equality and led the research and writing of the Commission Report published in September 2023. In partnership with the Aga Khan Foundation of Canada, she is the Principal Investigator for GenLab – a Community of Practice in Mozambique - that works to understand how gender norms influence access to and delivery of healthcare services. She held at fellowship at the Wilson Center in Washington DC. She has worked with the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, the International Crisis Group directing their Kosovo office, the UNHCR, and PRIO. Useful links:
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about the methods and approaches that researchers use to connect with communities and co-produce solutions to global health challenges. The podcast cuts across disciplines, including health systems strengthening, gender and intersectionality, tropical diseases (NTD’s, TB, Malaria), maternal and child healthcare (antenatal and postnatal care), mental health and wellbeing, vector-borne diseases, climate change, Participatory Action Research (PAR), co-production and participatory methods - all linked to community inclusion, engagement and shifting power dynamics. If you would like your project or programme to feature in an episode or mini-series, get in touch with the producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Revisiting Resilience in Health Systems Research | 03 May 2024 | 00:19:46 | |
Exploring Health Systems Resilience with Experts. This podcast episode, hosted by Dr. Kim Ozano and co-hosted by Professor Sophie Witter, engages in an insightful discussion on health systems resilience, particularly in fragile settings affected by violence, conflict, pandemics, and other shocks. This conversation is part of a mini-series titled 'Stories of Resilience - Local Lives and Health Systems', powered by the ReBUILD for Resilience research consortium (see 'useful links' for links to the other episodes from this series). The episode features insights from Dr. Sushil Baral of HERD International and Dr. Seye Abimbola from the University of Sydney, who share their experiences and reflections on building resilience in health systems. The discussion navigates the complexities of resilience as a concept, emphasising the importance of community engagement, co-creation, and adopting a learning approach to health systems strengthening. The panel explores the balance between self-reliance and demanding accountability from government systems, addressing the power dynamics and the necessity of a fair distribution of responsibilities across levels of governance. In this episode: Dr. Sophie Witter - Professor of International Health Financing and Health Systems, Institute of Global Health and Development, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh Sophie has worked in health and development for the past 35 years, starting with development roles at Save the Children and moving on to academia. Much of her work has focused on reducing financial barriers to accessing health care – how can people get the essential care they need without having to make terrible sacrifices? – but she has also worked on many other important health system topics, such as incentivising health care workers and health system strengthening more generally. All of her research is oriented towards implementation – how to make systems work better for people, especially those who are most disadvantaged. Dr Sushil Baral - Managing Director, HERD International Dr. Baral, hailing from a remote hill district in Nepal, brings over two decades of experience in health systems, public health policy, and implementation research, with a particular focus on South Asia. His contributions have significantly impacted national and global health systems, policies, and public health agendas. He emphasises evidence-based practices tailored to local contexts, reflecting a dedication to global health research excellence. Dr. Baral's academic journey highlights innovative problem-solving and substantial contributions to health systems, policies, and disaster response in fragile and shock-prone settings in LMICs. Dr Seye Abimbola - Associate Professor of Health Systems, University of Sydney, Australia Seye Abimbola is a health systems researcher from Nigeria, where he has worked at the National Primary Health Care Development Agency on initiatives to strengthen the Primary Health Care system across the country so that it can deliver integrated health services to communities. Seye has also been involved in research on how decentralisation affects health system performance and how community health committees influence and support health services in their own communities. Seye is currently based at the University of Sydney in Australia, where his teaching and research focus on knowledge practices in global health, health system governance, and the adoption and scale-up of health system innovations. Useful links:
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about the methods and approaches that researchers apply to connect with communities and co-produce solutions to global health challenges. The podcast covers wide-ranging topics such as NTD’s, NCD’s, antenatal and postnatal care, mental wellbeing and climate change, all linked to community engagement and power dynamics. If you would like your own project or programme to feature in an episode, get in touch with producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Empowering Voices: The Transformative Power of Public Involvement in Health Research | 17 Apr 2024 | 00:13:38 | |
Welcome to another episode of the Connecting Citizens to Science podcast, where we explore the dynamic role of public involvement in advancing health research. In this episode, hosted by Dr. Kim Ozano, we delve into the impactful world of Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) with insights from the PPI Summer School at the University of Limerick. Episode Guests: Dr. Jon Salsberg - Senior Lecturer in Primary Healthcare Research, University of Limerick A dedicated public health researcher, Dr. Salsberg has an academic background in health promotion and development anthropology. His research primarily explores the dynamics of research partnerships and the transition of research leadership from academic institutions to community stakeholders. Over his career, Dr. Salsberg has been involved in collaborative research with a diverse array of stakeholders, including patients, health practitioners, community organisations, policymakers, and health service decision-makers. His extensive work with indigenous communities includes his significant involvement in the Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Project, which is detailed here (http://www.ksdpp.org/) . In this episode, Jon discusses the evolution and impact of the PPI IGNITE Network. Lora Ruth Wogu - Founder and CEO of Sickle Cell and Thalassemia Ireland Lora Ruth Wogu is an Allied Health Professional and a passionate advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in healthcare, focusing on quality patient care for migrants and individuals with disabilities. As the founder and CEO of Sickle Cell and Thalassemia Ireland, she champions initiatives to educate and improve care for those affected by these conditions. Lora also leads the Migrant Health Alliance, aiming to enhance research participation and address barriers faced by migrant communities in healthcare settings. Her work is driven by a commitment to ensuring compassionate, competent, and inclusive healthcare for all, making her a respected voice in health advocacy and policy discussions. Lora shares her experiences with engaging migrant communities in health research. Alison Johnson - keynote speaker PPI Summer School 2023 Alison is a passionate advocate for patient, public, and carer involvement in healthcare, focusing on serious medical conditions. Her work in PPI began as a research participant, evolving into roles as a collaborator, where she champions the inclusion of patient and carer voices in health research. A lifelong learner, Alison's voluntary efforts extend to mentoring researchers and advising on best practices for effective patient engagement. Subscribe and follow us: Don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast on platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. Rate us and leave a review to help us reach more listeners. Follow us on Twitter at @podcast_CCS to stay updated on upcoming episodes and engage with our community. Thank you for tuning in, and we look forward to having you join us in the halls of the PPI Summer School this June! Want to get involved? If you would like your own project or programme to feature in an episode, get in touch with producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Participation and inclusion - Practical lessons from REDRESS | 15 Dec 2023 | 00:21:06 | |
In this episode, we discuss meaningful participation and inclusion when working with marginalised communities. We draw on research approaches from the Reducing the Burden of Severe Stigmatising Skin Diseases (REDRESS) research programme that aims to reduce illness, stigma, social exclusion, and poverty caused by severe stigmatising skin diseases (SSSDs) in Liberia. Since 2019 REDRESS has been co-developing new knowledge together with researchers, patients and programme implementers that directly respond to priority health needs detailed in the country’s ‘Investment Plan for Building a Resilient Health System’. Hannah Berrian who is a Research Fellow for the Patient Engagement and Person-Centred Approaches thematic area for REDRESS and Shahreen Chowdhury, a researcher and PhD student at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine join us in a discussion about participation and inclusion and how these impact the partnerships and power dynamics that exist when trying to improve the health and wellbeing of marginalised people. Episode guests: Miss Hannah Berrian - Research Fellow, UL-PIRE Africa Center Hannah Berrian obtained a Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) from Cuttington Graduate School of Professional Studies in Liberia. She served as Liberia’s Mental Health Research Capacity Building Coordinator for Youth FORWARD, the U.S.-National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) funded project from a collaboration between the Boston College of Social Work in Massachusetts, U.S., College of Medicine of the Allied Health Sciences (CoMAS) of the University of Sierra Leone, and UL-PIRE Africa Center at the University of Liberia, respectively. She has several years of professional experience in project management, qualitative and quantitative research, programme implementation, qualitative data analysis, and building capacity for mental health research, among others. Hannah is a Research Fellow for the Patient Engagement and Person-Centred Approaches thematic area on Health Systems Strengthening for Reducing the Burden of Severe Stigmatizing Skin Diseases (REDRESS) consortium. Ms Shahreen Chowdhury - Research Assistant, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Shahreen Chowdhury is a social scientist, with a background in public health and geography. She currently works as a research assistant and PhD student at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. She obtained her Masters in Public Health in International Development at the University of Sheffield and has varied local and international NGO experience in diverse settings on community health programmes. Shahreen is particularly interested in the links between equity, mental health and disability inclusion, and community based participatory research. Her PhD explores mainstreaming the rights of people with psychosocial disabilities in Bangladesh, Liberia and Lebanon. In her current work, Shahreen is passionate about using creative participatory methods to amplify the voices and experiences of vulnerable groups affected by chronic illness and disability. Shahreen has extensive experience in working with co-researchers using photovoice, storytelling and art based participatory methods. Shahreen works in Neglected Tropical Disease programmes in West Africa and South Asia with a focus on co-production, designing, implementing and evaluating case detection and community based psychosocial support systems. Useful links:
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about the methods and approaches that researchers apply to connect with communities and co-produce solutions to global health challenges. The podcast covers wide ranging topics such as NTD’s, NCD’s, antenatal and postnatal care, mental wellbeing and climate change, all linked to community engagement and power dynamics. If you would like your own project or programme to feature in an episode, get in touch with producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Community Voices in Political Decisions: Why, How and Steps to Action | 03 Nov 2023 | 00:22:27 | |
In this two-part mini-series we are focusing on health systems strengthening- what it is, how to do it and what action is needed to ensure that the approach is embedded in discussions at key global events and discussion platforms. This episode follows on from the first episode from the Centre for Health Systems Strengthening at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (episode 60) which focused on the health diplomacy and how researchers can advocate for health systems strengthening approaches and community voices in health diplomacy spaces. Today we hear from two advocates who have been acting within health diplomacy spaces and as researchers. We hear from Emmanuel Zaizay, who is affected by the Neglected Tropical Disease Buruli Ulcer, about his experience of growing skills and capacity to communicate the needs of people affected by stigmatising neglected tropical diseases. We also hear from Maurine Murenga, a TB advocate who has represented the TB community in high level UN meetings. She is open and honest about both the strengths and opportunities of being an advocate, but also what this means to her on a personal level. Her open reflections are really critical to how researchers function when engaging with communities. Episode guests: Dr Kerry Millington - Research Uptake Manager, Liverpool of Tropical Medicine Kerry has been working in global health for over 20 years with a keen focus on ending the tuberculosis epidemic. A key part of her work is developing trusted relationships with range of stakeholders to work in partnership, in collaboration and in a coordinated way ensuring the academic and health professional voice credibly informs decisions that impact on health. This can range from co-creating research ideas to influencing policy and political commitments. A key stakeholder to engage with is the voice of TB survivors and advocates to accelerate action for those in most need of innovations in TB care and prevention to transform lives. Maurine Murenga - Coordinator of TB Women Global Maurine Murenga is a passionate advocate for the health, development and human rights of women and children. Maurine’s passion for advocacy is driven by her lived experience, and the inequality and vulnerability that young women and adolescent girls experience in her community. Maurine is currently the coordinator of TB Women Global, Board Member of Unitaid, Friend of the Fight US and EGPAF Kenya. She is a former board member of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and is also a member of WHO's Global Accelerator for Pediatric Formulations Advisory and Union Working Group Gender Equity in TB. In Kenya – Maurine is a member of the Global Fund Country Coordinating Mechanism and Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV Committee of Experts. Emmanuel Zaizay – Co-researcher and advocate, REDRESS, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Emmanuel Zaizay is from Lofa County, Voinjama District. He works with REDRESS as a coresearcher and was recruited as a patient affected person having been diagnosed with Buruli ulcer. He also serves as a data collector, working in photovoice settings and participatory methods such as bodymapping and focus group discussions. Useful links:
Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about the methods and approaches that researchers apply to connect with communities and co-produce solutions to global health challenges. The podcast covers wide ranging topics such as NTD’s, NCD’s, antenatal and postnatal care, mental wellbeing and climate change, all linked to community engagement and power dynamics. If you would like your own project or programme to feature in an episode, get in touch with producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Lessons from The Centre for Health Systems Strengthening; Health Diplomacy | 22 Sep 2023 | 00:25:36 | |
Hello Listeners! In this episode we are joined by the Centre for Health Systems Strengthening at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, also known as CHESS. In this first episode of a two-part mini-series focusing on health systems strengthening, we talk about health diplomacy and why it is needed. We hear from Dr. Joanna Raven and Dr. Kerry Millington, who have both been working in global health for over 20 years and are passionate about embedding both health systems strengthening approaches and community knowledge into political commitments and policy reforms. Bringing a perspective from the fields of maternal and child health, lung health and tuberculosis, Dr Uzochukwu Egere co-hosts this episode where we discuss health diplomacy as a new field for academics and healthcare professionals. One that is about making connections, sharing intel and learning how the United Nations and other High-Level Meetings work, so we can effectively share evidence quickly in often extremely short windows of opportunity, so policy makers can listen and act. Dr Uzochukwu Egere - Senior Research Associate, Emergency Obstetric and Quality of Care Unit, Department of International Public Health (Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine) Uzo is a paediatrician and public health researcher with extensive experience in multidisciplinary global health research. His research interest is in implementation research and health systems strengthening to tackle inequities in the fields of Maternal and Child health, Lung health and Tuberculosis. Uzo’s work focuses on health and health systems challenges relevant to low-and middle-income settings and facilitates interactions between researchers and consumers of research outputs (the community) to ensure timely policy change, uptake of interventions, and universal health coverage. Dr Joanna Raven - Reader in health systems, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Jo has worked in global health for more than 25 years, focusing on strengthening health systems. Jo is a researcher with a passion for co-designing and implementing health system research with local stakeholders including community members, health workers, health managers and decision makers. As a health worker herself, Jo’s work focuses on supporting the health workforce to deliver people-centred care that is of good quality and leaves no one behind. Dr Kerry Millington – Research Uptake Manager, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Kerry has been working in global health for over 20 years with a keen focus on ending the tuberculosis epidemic. A key part of her work is developing trusted relationships with range of stakeholders to work in partnership, in collaboration and in a coordinated way ensuring the academic and health professional voice credibly informs decisions that impact on health. This can range from co-creating research ideas to influencing policy and political commitments. A key stakeholder to engage with is the voice of TB survivors and advocates to accelerate action for those in most need of innovations in TB care and prevention to transform lives. Research programme links: ReBUILD for Resilience - Research on health systems in fragile contexts PERFORM2scale – Scaling up PERFORM ReDRESS - Strengthening people-centred health systems for people affected by severe stigmatising skin diseases in Liberia LIGHT - Aims to support policy and practice in transforming gendered pathways to health for people with TB in urban settings Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about the methods and approaches that researchers apply to connect with communities and co-produce solutions to global health challenges. The podcast covers wide ranging topics such as NTD’s, NCD’s, antenatal and postnatal care, mental wellbeing and climate change, all linked to community engagement and power dynamics. If you would like your own project or programme to feature in an episode, get in touch with producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Stronger Together: Evidence for collaborative action on NTDs. | 28 Jul 2023 | 00:23:50 | |
In this episode we will be hearing about a seven year research programme known as COUNTDOWN. COUNTDOWN consisted of multidisciplinary research teams across 4 countries- Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Cameroon and used co-production research approaches to improve the equity and efficiency of health systems interventions to control and eliminate seven Neglected Tropical Diseases. Research was implemented at each of the health system levels from policy to community and is all documented in the Journal ‘International Health’ as a supplement entitled Stronger together: evidence for collaborative action on neglected tropical diseases. The supplement tells the story of how the programme engaged with people who have lived experience, health workers, and policy makers and really emphasises the importance of togetherness. Our guests today are Dr Luret Lar who was the programme manager employed by Sightsavers Nigeria, a collaborator on the COUNTDOWN programme, Dr Karsor Kollie who is the Program Director for Neglected Tropical Diseases at the Ministry of Health Liberia and Laura Dean from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine who was the Social Science lead for COUNTDOWN. Dr Laura Dean – Lecturer, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Laura has worked for the last 15 years in the use of participatory health research methodologies to support community and health systems development across sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. Through participatory action research projects, she supports capacity strengthening within communities and health systems so that stakeholders can identify challenges and co-produce solutions. The majority of her work has focused on increasing inclusion and participation of people with lived experience of mental health conditions and chronic infectious diseases of poverty, for example neglected tropical diseases. Dr. Luret Lar - Medical Doctor, Public Health Physician, Lecturer, University of Jos, Nigeria Luret was involved in implementation research for seven years in collaboration with Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine when she was working for Sightsavers. Her interest and passion about preventive medicine and including the voices of the voiceless have influenced her research career over the years. Luret was interested in inclusivity at all levels of implementation in the neglected tropical diseases programme. This connected her with people affected by neglected tropical diseases and implementers at the community facility, state, and federal levels. She worked closely with these implementers to co-produce solutions to implementation challenges that everyone collectively identified. Karsor Kollie – Programme Director, Ministry of Health, Liberia Since 2011, Mr Kollie has established and headed the Liberian Integrated NTDs Prevention and Control Programme and is based within the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. He developed the NTD country master plan which forms the operational national guide for the next 5 years. Under his leadership the Liberian programme is making excellent progress in MDA control of Lymphatic Filariasis, Onchocerciasis, Schistosomiasis, Soil-transmitted Helminthiasis (STH) where treatment coverage has not gone below 75%, respectively. Alongside this, he is making significant progress in the development and application of new monitoring and evaluation criteria tailoring activities effectively with difficult on-the-ground terrain. Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about the methods and approaches that researchers apply to connect with communities and co-produce solutions to global health challenges. The podcast covers wide ranging topics such as NTD’s, NCD’s, antenatal and postnatal care, mental wellbeing and climate change, all linked to community engagement and power dynamics. If you would like your own project or programme to feature in an episode, get in touch with producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Preserving Histories of Resilience to Inform Future Generations | 09 Jun 2023 | 00:29:36 | |
In this episode we are talking about the FEPOW Research Group. FEPOW stands for Far East Prisoners of War, and it focuses on capturing the history of civilian captives during the second World War and the impact that this has had on subsequent generations. The group brings together veterans, their families, writers, and academics to create a friendly space to capture stories that we can learn from and apply to research now. Approximately 240,000 Allied servicemen had become prisoners of war of the Japanese by early 1942. Over 50,000 British were captured during the fighting in Hong Kong, Malaya, at the fall of Singapore and across the former Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). The 415-kilometre Thailand-Burma railway was built by Far East prisoners of war (FEPOW) who were part of a huge slave labour force drafted from across the region. The railway provided the Japanese with a vital supply route for their fighting forces in Burma. It was forged through raw jungle, across mountain passes and was completed in a little over 15 months in October 1943. Of the 30,000 British FEPOW sent to camps in Thailand and Burma over 6,600 died. For this episode, we welcome a new co-host, Geoff Gill from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, where he has been involved with research and clinical care of former Far East prisoners of war. He has led the medical history inquiries into Far East imprisonment, resulting in two recent books, Captive Memories, and Burma Railway Medicine. We also have two great guests, Brian Spittle and James Reynolds. Geoff explains to us “I think one of the things I've learnt over the years, is that there are many different ways of telling a story and there's no one right way there, there are many different ways.” and in direct reference to the stories shared directly from the FEPOWs and their archives “It's a story worth learning from, and I think we have receptive generations to tell it to.” This episode features: Prof. Geoff Gill – Professor of International Medicine, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Geoff Gill is Professor of International Medicine at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) and the University of Liverpool, and a retired NHS Consultant Physician. At LSTM he has been involved in the medical care of ex-Far East Prisoners of War (POWs), as well as extensive clinical research into their ongoing health problems – notably persisting malaria and amoebic dysentery, chronic worm infestations, hepatitis B infection, long-term effects of vitamin deficiency, and the extensive psychological aftermath. He has published extensively on these and other POW-related health issues. More recent research has involved the medical history of the Far East POW experience, in particular on the Thai-Burma Railway. This resulted in a PhD degree in 2009, and the book Burma Railway Medicine (with Meg Parkes) published in 2017. The LSTM Far East POW Project has been in operation in different forms since late 1945, and is the longest collaboration in the School’s history. Brian Spittle Brian grew up in the UK and in his mid-twenties moved to the United States to pursue postgraduate studies. He has lived in Chicago for the past forty years, retiring from a career in higher education administration six years ago. His father, Jack Spittle, was in the RAMC during the Second World War, arriving in Singapore at the end of November 1941. He worked in the dysentery wing at Roberts Hospital at Changi, and followed the hospital moves to Selarang and Kranji. A keen ornithologist, he made detailed observations of the birds at Changi, publishing them after the war in the Bulletin of the Raffles Museum. It was only after his father died in 2004 that Brian found the notebooks he had made in captivity. Brian is close to completing a memoir about his own journey to understand more of Jack Spittle’s time as a POW and of his own childhood growing up with a father with PTSD. The working title for the memoir is: Bird’s Eye View. James Reynolds James Reynolds is the grandson of FEPOW Eric Cordingly, and the son of author Louise Cordingly. James has worked for the BBC since 1997, firstly as a foreign correspondent, now as a news presenter on the World Service. He's spent many years covering the effects of war. Find out more about LSTM's FEPOW programme here: https://www.lstmed.ac.uk/history/far-eastern-prisoners-of-war-fepow Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about the methods and approaches that researchers apply to connect with communities and co-produce solutions to global health challenges. The podcast covers wide ranging topics such as NTD’s, NCD’s, antenatal and postnatal care, mental wellbeing and climate change, all linked to community engagement and power dynamics. If you would like your own project or programme to feature in an episode, get in touch with producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Let's Play! The Intersection between Art and Science | 26 May 2023 | 00:19:24 | |
Have you heard the term SciArt before? In this episode, we explore what it is and the benefits of combining art and science as a research and communication tool. Our Co-host for this episode is Elli Wright, Public Engagement Manager at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Elli told us ‘...effective science communication can really connect people and communities with research. Science communicators and public engagement professionals want to reduce the elitism built into society with regards to who is allowed to access scientific knowledge. Science belongs to all of us which is why effective science communication is so important. There are many ways that science can be communicated to the diverse public audience, including through art.’ Natasha Niethamer shared with us, ‘the more we engage others about public health concerns that require global efforts to fight, the more likely we are to inspire community action, driving interest in policy makers and funders. Directly inspiring even one teacher, parent, young person, or community member may indirectly inspire a large network of their own. You may inspire the next major activist of our generation!’ Listen on to find out more about how a playful approach can bring new insights to your work. This episode features: Dr Elli Wright - Public Engagement Manager, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Elli has been working in the science communication and public engagement sector at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine for nearly 8 years. She is currently studying an MSc. in science communication at the University of the West of England, which has given her a stronger understanding of the theories behind science communication practices. Her research explores the use of autoethnography as a tool to the co-creation of the Tropical Medicine Time Machine by artists Tom Hyatt and Natasha Neithamer (also featured in this episode).
Mark Roughley - Senior Lecturer 3D Digital Art, Liverpool John Moores University Mark is a Senior Lecturer in 3D Digital Art at Liverpool School of Art and Design and a member of the Face Lab research group that explores faces and art-science applications. Mark trained as a medical artist, gaining his MSc in Medical Art from the University of Dundee, and specialises in visualising anatomy through 3D data acquisition, modelling and fabrication. His research focuses on the affordances of 3D digital technologies for both digital and haptic interaction with anatomical and cultural artefacts. Mark is also the programme leader for the MA Art in Science programme, which provides exciting opportunities for artists and scientists to collaborate and explore the boundaries of art and science. Tom Hyatt - PhD Student at the Liverpool School of Art & Design, Liverpool John Moores University Tom is a polymathic artist, musician, scientist, educator, and maker from Rossendale, Lancashire. After graduating with a Masters in physics and philosophy from Oxford University he moved to London to pursue grassroots music and a career in the arts, while teaching maths and physics. He moved back up to Liverpool after receiving a PhD scholarship to study at the Liverpool School of Art and Design. Recently he has been working with Natasha Niethamer to create the ‘Tropical Medicine Time Machine’ for LSTM – a multifaceted piece of sci-art public engagement that encompasses the length and breadth of LSTM’s prolific 125 years. Natasha Niethamer – SciArtist, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Natasha is a SciArtist commissioned to create a pop up museum for LSTMs 125th Anniversary, along with a set of interactive loan boxes for use in local primary schools. Natasha has a special interest in sci-art activism and public outreach in microbiology and antimicrobial resistance. In 2020, she graduated from the MA Art in Science programme at Liverpool John Moores University. Her final MA project, an interactive choose-your-own text adventure called Bacteria, The Future, follows the heroic journey of a human from the 2050s travelling back in time as a bacteria to administer antibiotics to novel resistant microbes inside Hugh Manity, an unfortunate human in our present day, to save future humanity from the urgent global health crisis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Natasha also has an academic and professional background in microbiology, and since graduating spent time working in Dr Adam Roberts’ research lab at LSTM studying AMR mechanisms of evolution in clinical bacterial isolates. She grew up in California, USA and obtained a double major in Microbiology and Molecular Biology at Cal Poly SLO. She worked in plankton research, as an emergency room scribe, graphic design, and as a university science tutor. Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about the methods and approaches that researchers apply to connect with communities and co-produce solutions to global health challenges. The podcast covers wide ranging topics such as NTD’s, NCD’s, antenatal and postnatal care, mental wellbeing and climate change, all linked to community engagement and power dynamics. If you would like your own project or programme to feature in an episode, get in touch with producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Invest, Innovate, Implement for Zero Malaria: From Lab to Communities | 21 Apr 2023 | 00:30:16 | |
In this episode, we are going to celebrate World Malaria Day with our co-host and guests. This year's theme is Time to Deliver Zero Malaria, and it is focused on investing, innovating, and implementing tools that are available today and innovating for future tools. WHO calls to action include prioritising funding for the most marginalised and hard to reach populations who are less able to access services and are the hardest hit when it comes to becoming ill from malaria. To help us understand more, we have co-host, Dr. Hellen Barsosio, who is a medical Kenyan doctor who has been investigating risk factors, tools, and interventions to prevent adverse birth outcomes, and more recently research on preventing malaria in pregnancy. She is in her final year of her PhD at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine under the Department of Clinical Science, where her PhD focuses on new drugs to prevent malaria in pregnancy. The WHO also calls for stepping up innovation for new vector control approaches, so we have two guests with us today to help us to understand what those are. We will be speaking to reader and Wolfson Fellow, Dr. Grant Hughes, and reader, Dr. Tony Nolan from the Vector Biology and Tropical Disease Biology Department at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Tony has led the development of genetic tools to better understand the biology of mosquitoes that transmit malaria, and this has led to the development of genetic approaches to control mosquito populations. This is to decrease the amount of malaria transmission. Tony is also using some of these tools to understand how insecticides work, and in particular, how mosquitoes can evolve resistance to insecticides. Grant is currently focusing on novel control strategies for arboviruses and malaria, and his overarching goal is to develop approaches which will either reduce mosquito numbers, or stop these mosquitoes transmitting the pathogens that make people ill. This episode features: Dr Hellen Barsosio - Clinical Research Scientist and section Head Maternal and New-born Health Studies, Malaria Program, KEMRI-CGHR Over the past 11 years, Hellen has been investigating risk factors, tools and interventions to prevent adverse birth outcomes, and more recently research on preventing malaria in pregnancy as one of the causes of adverse birth outcomes in malaria endemic areas. She trained in Kenya as a medical doctor, and did her post-graduate studies at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and University of Oxford. She is in the final year of her PhD at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine under the department of Clinical Science where her PhD work focuses on new drugs to prevent malaria in pregnancy. Dr Tony Nolan - Reader in Insect Genetics and Research Group Leader, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Tony has led the development of genetic tools to better understand the biology of mosquitoes that transmit malaria. This has led to the development of genetic approaches to control mosquito populations, in order to decrease the amount of malaria transmission. Tony is also using some of these genetic tools to understand how insecticides work and, in particular, how mosquitoes can evolve resistance to insecticides. Dr Grant Hughes - Reader and Royal Society Wolfson Fellow, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Grant has been investigating the use of microbes to control mosquito-borne diseases for over 15 years. After undertaking a PhD at the University of Queensland in Australia looking at microbial control of crop pests, Grant moved to the US to complete a post-doctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to examine how a bacteria called Wolbachia infected mosquitoes and interacted with Plasmodium parasites, the parasites that cause Malaria. After further work at Penn State University, working on the same project, Grant moved to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston where his research shifted focus to examine microbes, mosquitoes, and arboviruses. Since moving to the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine research has focused on novel control strategies for arboviruses and malaria, with the overarching goal to develop approaches which will either reduce mosquito number or stop these mosquitoes transmitting the pathogens that make people sick. Relevant links: BBC article ‘UK scientists say they have reached a milestone in the fight against malaria by creating a genetically modified mosquito that is infertile’ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-35024794 Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about the methods and approaches that researchers apply to connect with communities and co-produce solutions to global health challenges. The podcast covers wide ranging topics such as NTD’s, NCD’s, antenatal and postnatal care, mental wellbeing and climate change, all linked to community engagement and power dynamics. Twitter: @podcast_CCS If you would like your own project or programme to feature in an episode, get in touch with producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Engaging Advocates With Research to End TB | 24 Mar 2023 | 00:24:07 | |
In this episode we are celebrating World TB Day, this year’s campaign is ‘YES! We Can End TB’ and is all about solidarity and collective action. It centres on the increased engagement of those affected by TB, communities and civil society that are leading the movement towards ending this disease. This episode features the LIGHT consortium which aims to provide new evidence on the effectiveness of different gender-sensitive pathways and approaches to health for those with TB in urban, HIV-prevalent settings across Uganda, Nigeria, Malawi and Kenya. Our co-host Samara Barnes, who has lived experience of TB in the UK, speaks with researchers Toyosi Adekeye in Nigeria and Jasper Nidoi in Uganda from the LIGHT consortium about the ways they are enaging with affected communities in their work. Samara also shares her experience from the UK and the conversation reflects on the differences of TB across contexts. This episode features: Samara Barnes Affected Community Co-Lead at the UK Academics and Professionals to End TB (UKAPTB) Samara is an Affected Community Co-Lead at the UK Academics and Professionals to End TB (UKAPTB). She was diagnosed with active pulmonary TB in late 2015 and it was discovered she was also drug resistant as her treatment went on. Until that point, Samara knew little about the illness apart from the fact that her Grandad had died of TB many years previously. Samara has raised money for TB Alert and has been part of their peer supporter programme too. She has also studied and written papers on the Global disparities in TB treatment. It is important for Samara to raise awareness of this illness, be an advocate for reducing the stigma surrounding it and to encourage decision makers in the UK to ensure they keep to their commitment of a year on year reduction of TB and contribute to the WHO's commitment to eliminate TB by 2035. Samara works for a national children's charity and is also a borough and county councilor. Dr Jasper Nidoi - Early Career Researcher, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, U.K and Makerere University Lung Institute, Uganda. Jasper Nidoi is a Ugandan medical doctor with specialist training in health economics and health systems and policy research from Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. For over 5 years, she has been involved in the design and implementation of clinical trials that have evaluated drugs for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases in Uganda. She is a health economist on a clinical trial that is evaluating the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of standardized medication for MDR-TB. She was a co-investigator in a study that evaluated the impact of socio-economic factors on tuberculosis treatment outcomes in one of the poorest regions in Uganda. Her research interests are in the socio-economic determinants of health as they pertain to tuberculosis and the use of decision-analytic models to systematically synthesise data for the economic evaluation of healthcare interventions to guide policy that maximises resource allocation in the presence of uncertainty. Dr Jasper Nidoi joins the LIGHT Consortium as a researcher where she will contribute to generating evidence on gender-sensitive pathways and approaches for TB to increase the proportion of men in urban areas with TB who successfully complete screening and initiate treatment. Dr Toyosi Adekeye - Senior Lecturer Department of Community Medicine and primary Healthcare Bingham University and Research Uptake Manager, LIGHT Consortium Zankli Research Centre (ZRC) Nigeria Dr. Adekeye is a Medical Doctor and Public Health expert who serves as a senior lecturer in the Department of Community Medicine and Primary Healthcare and the LIGHT consortium Research Uptake Manager, at the Zankli Research Centre (ZRC), Bingham University, New Karu, Nasarawa State where he manages and coordinates all research activities and inputs across the LIGHT consortium in Nigeria. He leads a team that strives to generate new evidence on options and approaches to maximize male access to healthcare services for TB in urban, HIV-prevalent settings. The evidence generated will inform better gender-sensitive and pro-poor policies that will enable better access to TB care. Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about the methods and approaches that researchers apply to connect with communities and co-produce solutions to global health challenges. The podcast covers wide ranging topics such as NTD’s, NCD’s, antenatal and postnatal care, mental wellbeing and climate change, all linked to community engagement and power dynamics. If you would like your own project or programme to feature in an episode, get in touch with producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Feminising Data and Nudging Change for Gender Equity | 08 Mar 2023 | 00:23:44 | |
In this episode we are celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD). This year’s theme is #EmbraceEquity and aims to get the world talking about why "equal opportunities are no longer enough" - and can in fact be exclusionary, rather than inclusive. We will be discussing the differences between the terms equity and equality and why is it important to understand, acknowledge and value this. Definitions of these terms are provided by IWD campaign, they highlight the differences. • Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities. • Equity recognises that each person has different circumstances, and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome. To explore what this means in reality, we have two guests who will speak about the work they are doing to promote equity. They unearth differences as well as similarities across their respective contexts, but draw the same conclusions, “... it's a process. It takes time. You do get some gains and you should celebrate those. So don't feel frustrated and its small steps and nudging and knowing who to reach out to. Most importantly, listening to the voice of the community and those that we want to work with, that's the most critical part”. About our guests: Dr Lilian Otiso - Executive Director, LVCT Health Dr. Lilian Otiso is the Executive Director of LVCT Health, a large Kenyan NGO that carries out programs on HIV, sexual & reproductive health, gender-based violence, mental health and community health reaching over 1 million individuals annually. She is a medical doctor with an MBA in Health Care Management currently pursuing a PhD in Global Health at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Her PhD topic is on accountability for universal health coverage among pregnant adolescents/teenage mothers. Lilian has over 15 years’ clinical, programming and research experience in government and NGO sectors at senior management level. She has been a Principle Investigator and co-investigator of several research studies. She is passionate about the community and has conducted several studies and projects on community health. She has contributed to Kenyan and global WHO guidelines and policies and published several documents and peer reviewed articles. She is the winner of the Trocaire Oscar Romero Award 2021 for protecting vulnerable communities during COVID 19. Dr. Renu Khosla - Director, Centre for Urban and Regional Excellence (CURE) Dr. Kholsa is the Director of the Centre for Urban and Regional Excellence (CURE). Her core values are designed to include, level-up and connect urban low-income communities. She seeks to unthink and reimagine slum development; nudging a change from top-down to bottom-up and state to people-led development. Her work is aimed at strengthening local government capacity for: participative planning, information visualization and analytics using spatial and social media technologies, localizing and de-engineering solutions and strategies and simplifying institutions. Her work has led to deepening of the policy discourse on urban poor and access to services. Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about the methods and approaches that researchers apply to connect with communities and co-produce solutions to global health challenges. The podcast covers wide ranging topics such as NTD’s, NCD’s, antenatal and postnatal care, mental wellbeing and climate change, all linked to community engagement and power dynamics. If you would like your own project or programme to feature in an episode, get in touch with producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Gender Inequity: The Driver of Gender Based Violence | 04 Mar 2023 | 00:24:06 | |
In this episode we celebrate International Women’s Day by revealing the hidden gender inequities that lead to gender-based violence and more importantly what can be done to instigate change. It is the first of two episodes celebrating International Women’s Day and features a Kenyan community based participatory research project by Beate Ringwald (PhD student) from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine who worked in partnership with LVCT Health (including our guests) and 11 community co-researchers from Gitathuru village in Korogocho. The study aimed to strengthen community capacity to prevent intimate partner violence and HIV. Veronica Mwania and Maria Muthoki take us through a participatory research journey, discussing the ways that they engaged co-researchers whilst considering and addressing power structures of inequity. They talk about how knowledge was generated through creativity, dialogue and awareness raising which was embedded and transferred to communities through drama, word of mouth and art. More about our guests: Maria Muthoki – Researcher, Kemri, LVCT, Infinite Insight (among others) Maria Muthoki is a freelance researcher based in Nairobi, Kenya and has 14 of years of professional research experience. She has done both social and market research, involving mainly qualitative and sometimes quantitative methods. Maria Muthoki worked with LVCT Health, as part of the Accountability for Informal Urban Equity Hub (ARISE), to support this community-based participatory PhD study on the intersections of HIV and intimate partner violence in an informal settlement in Nairobi. She worked with a diverse group of community co-researchers from an informal settlement. While her main role was documentation and management of data, she also supported co-researchers to analyse data and disseminate findings. Maria loves talking to people and understanding their viewpoint on the studies that she conducts. Veronicah Mwania - Independent Researcher, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) Veronica Mwania has a background in applied psychology and has been an independent researcher for 17 years in Kenya. She has worked for LVCT Health on various research studies, including the participatory study that we will be hearing about in this episode. She is currently working with the Kenya Medical Research Institute on a study involving mental health screening for adolescents who are living with HIV. Veronica’s work in this project blended intersectionality and participatory research approaches working with a diverse group of community co-researchers who were equal partners in the research process. Intersectionality links theory and action – the formation of theory through practice by marginalised groups and the use of knowledge to challenge inequalities in everyday life. By applying a participatory health research approach, the team sought to mitigate the risk of their research being a closed space, reproducing unequal power structures, and being irrelevant. In line with participatory and intersectionality research guidelines, they paid attention to power, time, space, and diversity of knowledge; and promoted reflexivity, equity, and opportunities for collective action. Useful links: Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about the methods and approaches that researchers apply to connect with communities and co-produce solutions to global health challenges. The podcast covers wide ranging topics such as NTD’s, NCD’s, antenatal and postnatal care, mental wellbeing and climate change, all linked to community engagement and power dynamics. If you would like your own project or programme to feature in an episode, get in touch with producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Tackling FGS - A priority for equality | 27 Jan 2023 | 00:21:52 | |
We have a really important episode for you as we approach World Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) day on 30th January calling for all to act together and act now. We are going to be talking about female genital schistosomiasis, which affects approximately 56 million girls and women in sub-Saharan Africa. Host, Kim Ozano is joined by co-host Pamela Mbabazi from the United Nations with guests; Rhoda Ndubani, who is a study manager for a female sexual reproductive health screening programme for FGS in Zambia, Christine Masong, who is a PhD student with Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine undertaking research in Cameroon, exploring how culture and the social structures affect illness experiences and treatment pathways of girls and women with FGS, and finally, Dr. Victoria Gamba, who is a gynaecologist and advocate for FGS awareness based in Kenya. If you would like to understand more about FGS, here's some resources for you: A call to action for universal health coverage: Why we need to address gender inequities in the neglected tropical diseases community https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7067373/ Discussion paper the gender dimensions of neglected tropical diseases from the Access and Delivery Partnership in partnership with LSTM https://adphealth.org/upload/resource/2523_ADP_Discussion_Paper_NTDs_211119_web.pdf Useful factsheets on FGS: Japanese: https://adphealth.org/upload/resource/2523_ADP_Discussion_Paper_NTDs_211119_web.pdf English: https://adphealth.org/upload/resource/2658_ADP_NTDs_and_Gender_factsheet_280120.pdf More about our guests; Dr. Pamela Sabina Mbabazi - Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), WHO headquarters in Geneva Presently, Pamela is working as a medical epidemiologist in the Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Her current research interests include strengthening monitoring and evaluation for neglected tropical diseases programmes particularly in vulnerable populations with a focus on women and children, notably for female genital schistosomiasis (FGS). She has authored several publications in peer reviewed journals, mainly related to methodologies for tracking public health gains for neglected tropical diseases and the effects of co-morbidities. Dr. Victoria Gamba - Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Private Practice/Ministry of Health Kenya/University of Nairobi Passionate about participatory efforts to reduce and eliminate vaccine preventable illnesses and an advocate of gender equality and promoting sexual and reproductive health rights of women and girls, Victoria is a resident obstetrician and gynaecologist at a private health group and a part time consultant with the Ministry of Health Department of Vector-borne and neglected tropical diseases in collaboration with LVCT-health Kenya. Rhoda Ndubani -Study Manager, Zambart Rhoda is the study manager at Zambart on a study called ‘Zipime Weka Schista’, a longitudinal Cohort Study focusing on Integrating Female Sexual Reproductive Health Screening in Zambia focused on one-stop self-sampling for schistosomiasis and other genital infections. The aim of the study is to develop a holistic approach for the community-based diagnosis of female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) through a comprehensive package for sexual and reproductive health screening including human papillomavirus (HPV), sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV and Schistosomiasis across endemicity settings (from high to low transmission) in Zambia. The duration of the study is from 2021 to 2025. And they aim to recruit 2500 women in the cohort. The women are screened for FGS and HPV using self-sampling in the household and at the health facility. The women are provided with information and instructions on how to do the self-sampling. The study is observing high acceptability so far. The next stage of the study is to run validation of the self-samples taken at home and the ones collected in the health facility. Makia Christine Masong (Msc) - PhD student, Catholic University of Central Africa; MTN-OCEAC fellow Christine is a social scientist from Cameroon, where, with the immense support from the KfW MTN/OCEAC PhD scholarship for researchers from Central Africa sub-region is conducting research on neglected tropical diseases. She is currently completing her thesis in medical anthropology on the social representations of FGS including the sexual and reproductive health, mental and socio-economic impacts on the lives of young girls and women in Cameroon. Christine works with community members and fore-line health workers at the primary health care level to understand the existing cultural and social dynamics which encourage the continued incidences of this gynaecological condition, and also how the response towards its management is organised within these same communities and within the formal health system. Relevant links: WHO road map for NTDs: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240010352 ipime Weka Schista! (Do self-testing sister!): https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/research/centres-projects-groups/zipime-weka-schista https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0000007&type=printab le https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7463188/ https://www.eliminateschisto.org/blog/gsa-celebrates-international-womens-day Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about the methods and approaches that researchers apply to connect with communities and co-produce solutions to global health challenges. The podcast covers wide ranging topics such as NTD’s, NCD’s, antenatal and postnatal care, mental wellbeing and climate change, all linked to community engagement and power dynamics. If you would like your own project or programme to feature in an episode, get in touch with producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| Battling Bacteria - Community Microbe Champions! | 20 Jan 2023 | 00:24:13 | |
We have a conversation including our first citizen scientist to kick of 2023. Lou Kellett is an active participant in the Liverpool School of Tropical medicine Swab and Send programme, which is striving to find the next breakthrough in bacteria to defeat antimicrobial resistance. We also hear from Dr. Adam Roberts, the creator of the programme, and Dr. Amy McLeman, who is taking the bacteria that shows promising results, through to the next stage of investigation in the lab. Swab and Send is an innovative programme that relies on the anticipation of citizens to infinitely broaden the search for a solution to the AMR problem. Amy provides us with an insight: “Antimicrobials can be produced by bacteria or fungus from anywhere; from the soil in your local park to your kitchen sink. These are just two of the places we are looking for the next new antibiotics and it works! We are finding microbes producing interesting antimicrobials that our team are working on characterising, but did you know it can take 10-15 years and over $1.7 billion to develop a new antibiotic from discovery to market. Even then once a new antibiotic is being sold the investment return is less than $50 million on average each year. Research and development costs massively outweigh the financial return”. About our guests: Dr. Adam Roberts – Reader, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Adam Roberts leads a research group investigating various aspects of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) from molecular biology and evolution of transferable AMR to genomic surveillance and antimicrobial drug discovery. Dr. Amy McLeman - Postdoctoral Research Associate, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Amy works as a postdoctoral research associate on discovery and characterisation of novel antimicrobials from environmental isolates. Her work includes outreach to individuals and communities to communicate the importance of AMR and what Swab and Send is doing to tackle this, and to also encourage involvement of the public to take swabs of everything and anything and send them into us to look for the next antibiotic. Lou Kellett – Active Citizen Scientists, Wales, UK Lou has worked in local food and farming business for the last couple of decades, including organic farming. An active participant in many citizen science projects, Lou is particularly enthusiastic about the swab and send programme as it creates the opportunity for to share the unique local environmental habitats with the wider world. Lou finds being an active citizen scientist is a great way satiate a hungry sense of curiosity. Relevant links: https://www.lstmed.ac.uk/public-engagement/swab-send https://www.facebook.com/swabandsend/ https://www.future-science.com/doi/10.2144/fsoa-2020-0053 #SwabAndSend Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about the methods and approaches that researchers apply to connect with communities and co-produce solutions to global health challenges. The podcast covers wide ranging topics such as NTD’s, NCD’s, antenatal and postnatal care, mental wellbeing and climate change, all linked to community engagement and power dynamics. If you would like your own project or programme to feature in an episode, get in touch with producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, The SCL Agency. | |||
| S10 E5: From lab to people - the translational research journey | 30 Dec 2022 | 00:22:07 | |
In this celebratory episode to close out 2022, we have brought together previous co-hosts and guests to reflect on what we have learned over the past year. We examine our learning along the translational research pathway. The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine have a translational research trajectory; that means there is a continuum of science from basic research and labs to embedding change for communities and within sustainable policies and practices. LSTM works with a range of partners globally along this continuum, and in this episode, we will be hearing from some of those that have worked with LSTM and have different positions within programmes and PhDs. Our multidisciplinary guests share their understanding of community engagement and how they ensure that community voice is included in research design, analysis and outcomes throughout the research pathway. This episode features: Beatrice Egid – MRC PhD Student, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine In 2017, Beatrice completed a BA in Biological Sciences at the University of Oxford. She began an MSc in Tropical Disease Biology at LSTM in September 2018, during which she undertook a research project determining the level of insecticide resistance in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Accra, Ghana, and the metabolic mechanisms driving it. Beatrice started the MRC Doctoral Training Programme at LSTM, with an integrated MRes at Lancaster University in Global Health: Quantitative and Translational Skills, in 2019. Beatrice is undertaking her PhD as part of the ARISE project. Within ARISE, Beatrice's project focuses on vector-borne diseases in waste-picking communities in Vijayawada, India. She will be employing a mixed-methods approach, combining aspects of entomology and policy analysis alongside qualitative and participatory methods. Beatrice has a strong interest in health policy and co-production research approaches. She conducted a desk-based policy project exploring the intersection between vector-borne diseases and city resilience in the context of the Resilient Cities Network (RCN), and has published two papers from her MRes qualitative research project investigating power dynamics in participatory research. Dr. Oluwatosin Adekeye - Assistant Director of Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychiatry Ahmadu Bello University Hospital Zaria Kaduna A social scientist with varied experience in both clinical and research aspects of health among communities in Northern Nigeria. As a Clinical Psychologist, his work has been both on mental and behavioural disorders and the effects of chronic disease on the well-being of patients and caregivers. As a Social Scientist, he just concluded a study that documented the well-being of people with stigmatizing skin diseases and established a care and support group within the community. More recently he is working on developing a well-being tool for parents and children with disability.
Dr Akinola Oluwole – Consultant, Sightsavers, Nigeria Dr Akinola Oluwole is an experienced researcher with a special interest in socio-epidemiology of tropical infectious diseases. His multidisciplinary expertise includes spatial disease mapping, monitoring and evaluation of intervention and control programmes and implementation/Health systems research for public health and disease control. He has over Fifteen years’ experience working on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). Recently, Dr Akinola was the programme lead for two Co-production research projects within the COUNTDOWN consortia, one to develop a care package for Female Genital Schistosomiasis and a second to improve the equity of mass drug administration in Nigeria. Both projects utilised innovative Participatory Health Research methods to generate evidence-based information on how to effectively tackle implementation challenges for NTD programme in Nigeria. Dr Akinola has strengthened the capacity of health systems actors, NTD implementers and researchers through training, mentorship and the development of practical guidelines and policy. He is passionate about influencing policy change in Nigeria and Internationally to reduce inequities created by NTDS within the poorest communities. Yaimie López - Research Assistant, Centre for Health Studies, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala Yaimie is a biologist from Guatemala with research experience in vector borne diseases and strengthening of health systems. She has been involved in several quantitative research projects focused on the biological side of the diseases, and in one qualitative project to understand the perception of key actors involved. The qualitative project was done with the participatory action research methods, with municipal stakeholders acting as co-researchers. The aim of the project was to develop a tool that would help to measure and improve the governance, leadership, multisectoral action and accountability of two municipal health systems. The project used PAR for the development of the tool, including the co-selection of questions, rating criteria and the visual presentation of the tool. LSTM’s translational research process LSTM categorises the process of translating research findings into practical benefits for people living mainly in low and middle-income countries, into 5 stages: Discovery Development Implementation Evaluation & review Research uptake This pathway, leading from the field into the laboratory is often followed by taking the research back into the field again. Even during the initial laboratory phase, LSTM works together with its many overseas partners to deliver as much of the science locally in order to support high-quality research and capacity strengthening there where it matters most. The continuous search for, and development, of new products will help to improve prevention and treatment of many diseases and address global health issues. This, together with knowledge of their effective implementation and an understanding of their impact through monitoring and evaluation, aim to achieve the uptake of LSTM’s research outcomes into policies and practices, ultimately benefiting patients worldwide. Want to hear more podcasts like this? Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about the methods and approaches that researchers apply to connect with communities and co-produce solutions to global health challenges. The podcast covers wide ranging topics such as TB, NTD’s, antenatal and postnatal care, mental wellbeing and climate change, all linked to global health and community engagement. If you would like your own project or programme to feature in an episode, get in touch with producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| S10E4: Engaging children and communities for lung health - An octopus of methods! | 17 Dec 2022 | 00:24:38 | |
In this week's episode, we are talking to the Tupumue Project, who applied creative participatory methods alongside clinical data to understand how many children, in two communities in Nairobi, Kenya have lung problems, and to explore children's experiences of lung problems and air pollution. The project used a variety of creative research methods including drawings, drama, walking interviews with go pros, comics, graffiti and others. They even engaged children in co- analysis and theme development. Co-host for this episode, Dr. Hellen Meme, told us more about the programme; “The choice of the word “Tupumue” (meaning “lets breathe”!) as an identity of the program was because breathing is a function important to all. The Tupumue programme was a complex undertaking considering the broadness of the subject that was covered, in regard to establishing the burden of non-communicable lung diseases in school children and risk factors in both an informal and formal community context. The necessary skill pool had to be wide to achieve this and hence the broad collaboration involving a multidisciplinary team derived from several North and South institutions. For everyone to own the study, we held consultative meetings through which we established a niche for everyone to participate. We are in the process of widely disseminating our study findings and are currently sharing our results with all stakeholders including participating schools and the community in order to get their views on the findings before we engage policy makers”.
This episode features: Dr. Hellen Meme (co-host) - Chief Research Scientist, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) Hellen Meme’s research work spans over 30 years and involves health and communities. Her research area of interest is in respiratory diseases with bias towards conducting research in congregate communities. This necessitates a broad skill base as well as innovation in planning approaches appropriate for project implementation. In this regard, engagement of community and other stakeholders is key. Dr Sarah West - Centre Director and Senior Research Fellow, Stockholm Environment Institute, University of York Sarah has been using citizen science approaches since she began work at SEI York in 2008, working on topics ranging from air pollution and biodiversity through to parenting and food waste. All her work uses citizen science approaches to engage a diverse range of people with research. She uses this approach because she believes that well designed projects can have huge benefits for advancing research and for making a difference for all those involved in projects. She also conducts research around the method of citizen science, looking at who is and isn’t participating in projects, and evaluating projects’ efficacy. Relevant links: https://www.sei.org/featured/citizen-science-month/ Fred Orina - Senior Research Scientist, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) Fred’s interest is research implementation. He has 10 years’ experience in coordinating the implementation of human health research, with a focus on lung health studies in both static and nomadic communities. This involves liaising with communities and diverse stakeholders. With a scientific background, he acts as the interlink between the community, researchers, and the sponsor. Professor Graham Devereux - Professor of Respiratory Medicine, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Graham is a Professor of Respiratory Medicine with research interests in the antenatal influences on the life course of airways disease and clinical trials in COPD. He is also an Honorary Consultant at Aintree University Hospital and spent 2020-2022 managing patients with COVID-19. His research into the life-course of airways diseases such as asthma and COPD has involved studies of large numbers of pregnant women, children and adults, originally in the UK, since his move to the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine his work has involved large numbers of children and adults in Kenya and Malawi.
Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about the methods and approaches that researchers apply to connect with communities and co-produce solutions to global health challenges. The series covers wide ranging topics such as TB, NTD’s, antenatal and postnatal care, mental wellbeing and climate change, all linked to health. If you would like your own project or programme to feature in an episode, get in touch with producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| S10E3: Health Systems Strengthening - Participatory Action Research in Guatemala | 02 Dec 2022 | 00:33:24 | |
In this episode we hear about a participatory action research project in Guatemala, funded by the Director's Catalyst Fund at LSTM, that co-designed a tool for health leaders and community partners to assess and improve urban health governance. The project was based in two Guatemalan urban municipalities; Villa Nueva and Mixco. We speak with Guillermo Hegel, the project lead who was also the Health Director at Villa Nueva Municipality at the time of the project. We also hear from Yaimie Lopez and Cintia Cansado who coordinated and evaluated the project. They share their experience of participatory research and working with policy makers. The research team together with co-researchers who were urban health stakeholders looked at 4 domains, Governance, leadership accountability and multi-sectoral action. They first defined what these terms were, then they co-analysed existing tools to measure governance performance and designed an online tool which could be used to rank current performance and areas for improvement which could then track over time. The tool involved a number of qualitative questions that required discussions and reflections about governance in their work and required a level of trust and transparency which is further explored by our guests. This Episode features: Wesam Mansour (co-host) - Health Systems Researcher, Liverpool School of Tropical MedicineWesam is a Health System Researcher with research expertise in health workforce and health systems strengthening in fragile contexts using qualitative research and participatory action research approaches. Her work includes working in the areas of gender, equity and justice and how to apply those concepts to develop gender-equitable, resilient and inclusive health systems. She is currently working, in LSTM, on the ReBUILD4Resilience project which is health system research in Fragile and Shock-Prone (FASP) settings in 4 countries (Nepal, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, and Lebanon). In ReBUILD, they worked with the Close to Community (CTC) providers in FASP settings to explore how participatory action research can support CTC providers to address gender norms and power relations within their communities and in the health systems in Lebanon and Nepal. Links: Guillermo Hegel, Project Coordinator, INCAP Since 2020 Guillermo has been a researcher at CIIPEC. He coordinates a participatory action research project in collaboration with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. From 2014 to early 2020, he was health director of the municipality of Villa Nueva, Guatemala. A core part of his tasks was to articulate 'Health-in-All Policies' and to improve the primary health care system in urban setting through participatory processes. Between 2008-2013, he worked at PAHO/WHO Guatemala, as an advisor for social determinants of health and the ´Healthy Cities´ initiative, leading and contributing to several programs in Guatemala and Latin America. He began his career in public health in 2000, promoting small-scale projects at the community level with an environmental and inter-sectoral approach. Since 2016 Guillermo holds a master's degree in public health from the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium, in addition to a previous master's degree in development (2011) and a BA in environmental science (2004), both from Universidad del Valle de Guatemala. As of 2018 he is a member of Health Systems Global and Emerging Voices for Global Health. Yaimie López, Research Assistant, Centre for Health Studies, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala Yaimie is a biologist from Guatemala with research experience in vector borne diseases and strengthening of health systems. She has been involved in several quantitative research projects focused on the biological side of the diseases, and in one qualitative project to understand the perception of key actors involved. The qualitative project was done with the participatory action research methods, with municipal stakeholders acting as co-researchers. The aim of the project was to develop a tool that would help to measure and improve the governance, leadership, multi-sectoral action and accountability of two municipal health systems. The project used PAR for the development of the tool, including the co-selection of questions, rating criteria and the visual presentation of the tool. Ms Cintia Cansado-Utrilla, PhD student, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Cintia comes from a background in molecular biology. Her bachelor’s degree is in Biotechnology and her master’s degree is in Medical Parasitology and Entomology. Most of her expertise involves lab work with some field work in Guinea, studying mosquitoes. At the beginning of her PhD, she enrolled in an MRes in Global Health where she acquired translational skills and became interested in qualitative research. She had the opportunity to participate in the GOBLAR project with Kim, Guillermo, Yaimie and the rest of the participants and she cites it as a very positive experience for her. She believes there is a gap between basic and applied science, and although her PhD focuses on molecular biology of mosquitoes, she would like to incorporate some qualitative methods to her research to understand the perceptions of novel mosquito control methods from a community perspective and contribute to close this gap. For more information about the tool mentioned in this episode, see this video on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/nXxOoN74OAc Guillermo and Yaimie, who worked with Oscar (mentioned in the episode), pay tribute to their valued and much missed co-worker; “Oscar Hernandez was a medical doctor from Guatemala who died in 2020 while working in the front lines against the Covid-19 pandemic. He believed so much in his work that he had isolated from his family while working in the hospital to avoid infecting them. He was one of the first people to be on the participatory action research team and worked hard to lay the foundation of the project. Oscar was a highly energetic person, eager to learn. He knew how to see the bright side of difficult situations. He was very funny, always making jokes.” Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear our equitable global health research podcast connect discussing how researchers connect with communities and people to co-develop solutions to global health challenges. The series covers wide ranging topics such as TB, NTD’s, antenatal and postnatal care, mental wellbeing and climate change linked to health. If you would like your own project or programme to feature in an episode, get in touch with producers of Connecting Citizens to Science, the SCL Agency. | |||
| S10E2: HSR2022 Special - Strengthening Health Systems with Communities | 19 Nov 2022 | 00:36:22 | |
Our team of podcasters were roaming the halls of HSR2022, the Seventh Global Symposium on Health Systems Research, capturing the conversations ‘in the halls’ after the sessions, with a focus on community engagement. In this final HSR2022 episode, host Kim Ozano and guests share their thoughts and takeaways from the conference. Our host, Kim, presented at HSR2022 sessions as part of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine’s (LSTM) cohort. As LSTM mark 125 years of global health research and look to the next 125 years, she summarises the themes that reoccurred in conversation with other delegates and presenters. This Episode features:Host of Connecting Citizens to Science podcast: Dr Kim Ozano – Research Director, the SCL Agency Bea Egid (co-host) - MRC PhD Student, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Jhaki A. Mendoza – Research Associate, University of the Philippines Maria Van Der Merwe - Research Coordinator, VAPAR Vivek Dsouza – Research officer, Institute of Public Health, Bangalore Kara Hanson - Professor of Health System Economics and Dean, Faculty of Public Health & Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform to hear our equitable global health research podcast connect discussing how researchers connect with communities and people to co-develop solutions to global health challenges. The series covers wide ranging topics such as TB, NTD’s, antenatal and postnatal care, mental wellbeing and climate change linked to health. | |||
| HSR2022 Special - Conversations in the Halls (Episode 4) | 04 Nov 2022 | 00:19:37 | |
Our team of podcasters were roaming the halls of HSR2022, capturing the thoughts and takeways of the presenters and delegates after the sessions, with a focus on community engagement. In today’s special episode we have: Professor Anuj Kapilashrami – Professor in Global Health Policy & Equity, University of Essex Dr Reza Majdzadeh – Senior Lecturer in Global Public Health, University of Essex Dr Neethi V Rao – Consultant, WHOWe will compile and share further conversations and insights from the symposium over the coming weeks. Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform to hear our equitable global health research podcast connect discussing how researchers connect with communities and people to co-develop solutions to global health challenges. The series covers wide ranging topics such as TB, NTD’s, antenatal and postnatal care, mental wellbeing and climate change linked to health. | |||
| HSR2022 Special - Conversations in the Halls (Episode 3) | 03 Nov 2022 | 00:19:18 | |
Our team of podcasters are roaming the halls of HSR2022 to bring you the thoughts and takeways of the presenters and delegates after the sessions, with a focus on community engagement. In today’s special episode (capturing thoughts from 02/11/22) we have: Dr. Dheepa Rajan - Health Systems Adviser, WHO Dr. Anne Musuva – Country Director, ThinkWellRachael Farquhar – Senior Research Officer, Burnet InstituteMore conference coverage coming your way throughout the week! Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform to hear our equitable global health research podcast connect discussing how researchers connect with communities and people to co-develop solutions to global health challenges. The series covers wide ranging topics such as TB, NTD’s, antenatal and postnatal care, mental wellbeing and climate change linked to health. | |||
| HSR2022 Special - Conversations in the Halls (Episode 2) | 02 Nov 2022 | 00:18:11 | |
Our team of podcasters are roaming the halls of HSR2022 to bring you the thoughts and takeways of the presenters and delegates after the sessions, with a focus on community engagement. In today’s special episode we have: Dr. Lathadevi Chilgod – Public Health Researcher , Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru, India Germań Alaracoń – Research Assistant, University College London & Universidad de los Andes Meena Putturaj – PhD Scholar, Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru, India Daniela DaCosta – Epidemiologist, the Unit of Medical AnthropologyMore conference coverage coming your way throughout the week! Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform to hear our equitable global health research podcast connect discussing how researchers connect with communities and people to co-develop solutions to global health challenges. The series covers wide ranging topics such as TB, NTD’s, antenatal and postnatal care, mental wellbeing and climate change linked to health. | |||
| S10E1: Health Equity - Trust Communities and You Can Do Big Things | 02 Nov 2022 | 00:39:34 | |
We're really excited to be entering a new phase of the podcast series where we will be celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. To do this, we will be hosting conversations about the ways in which the Global South and the Global North have learned from each other and the valuable collaborations that have shaped global health policies and practices and continue to influence them. These conversations, will of course, have a specific focus on engaging with communities and people. This episode examines how The Liverpool Vaccine Equity project applied lessons learned from the Global South, specifically Kenya, to reduce vaccine hesitancy in Merseyside and how the methods have created a legacy that is improving uptake of other health services. The episodes guests: Amina IsmailCommunity Mobiliser, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Amina is a Community Mobiliser at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine working on the Liverpool Vaccine Equity Project. She is a qualified Primary teacher and understands the positive impact of supporting communities to address inequality. Amina has over 25 years’ experience in the UK and Saudi Arabia working with communities across both the education and health sector. She has supported multidisciplinary Community Innovation Teams (CITs) working in deprived areas of Liverpool to identify reasons for vaccine hesitancy. Amina has provided coaching and support to the Community Innovation Teams. She is committed to working with the CITs and engaging with different stakeholders to improve collaborative working reflective of a community-led approach to achieve vaccine equity. Relevant links: About The Liverpool Vaccine Equity project I did if for……photo exhibition Zakirya HassanCommunity Champion, Merseyside Somali and Community Association and Kaalmo Youth Development The aim of Zak's role is to reduce health inequalities and increase health equity and support his community. At Kaalmo Youth Development, Zak supports young people working as a sessional youth worker arranging trips, group activities and after school classes. He supports a community drop-in service held in the Merseyside Somali and Community Association helping people with benefits services, debt advice, support with translation and school admissions. Zak also runs his own organisation on the side Granby Toxteth Athletic a mental health sports organisation tackling mental health through physical activity they have as a walking club a football team and a basketball team. Relevant Links: Granby Toxteth Athletic Project Mandela OgucheProject Officer, Continuous Quality Improvement, LVCT Health Mandela serves as Project Officer for continuous quality improvement at LVCT Health Organisation based in Kenya, Kisii County. He has previously worked on mixed methods research projects around quality of care in community health programs in multiple low- and middle-income community settings. His work provides a unique platform that empowers community health workers, community health extension workers and peer educators to acquire feedback directly from the beneficiaries (clients) on how to improve quality health services at the community level. This enables improved access and provision of quality and equitable health service provision at the primary and secondary health facilities. He also worked as a Program Officer for 4byFour model; a maternal health system strengthening intervention which builds on the flagship SQALE quality improvement intervention. It combines quality improvement with roll out of antenatal facility point-of-care testing for HIV, syphilis, anemia and malaria, and community pregnancy testing and referral. He was part of the team that supported the success of USAID SQALE Program in Migori County. Relevant links: | |||
| HSR2022 Special - Conversations in the Halls (Episode 1) | 01 Nov 2022 | 00:21:01 | |
Our team of Connecting Citizens to Science podcasters are roaming the halls of HSR2022 to bring you the thoughts and takeways of the presenters and delegates after the sessions, with a focus on community engagement. In today’s special episode we have: Ibrahim Dadari - Immigration Specialist, UNICEF Sara Dada - PhD Candidate, University College Dublin Anna Socha – Health Policy & Systems Researcher, Swiss Tropical & Public Health Institute Sarbani Chakraborty – Senior Programme Director, Mixed Health SystemsThese delegates share their thoughts and takeaways from some of the sessions held on 31/10/22. More conference coverage coming your way throughout the week! Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform to hear our equitable global health research podcast discussing how researchers connect with communities and people to co-develop solutions to global health challenges. The series covers wide ranging topics such as TB, NTD’s, antenatal and postnatal care, mental well-being and climate change linked to health. | |||