18 February 2019 · Global Partnership for Zero Leprosy

Aligning key research needs

The Research Agenda Working Group is nearing completion on its recommendations. The recommendations are being developed into a manuscript for publication and individual sub-group reports will be available on the website in the coming months.
The goal of the Global Partnership for Zero Leprosy research agenda, through a broad and inclusive process, is to help align the leprosy community (and potential partners and donors) around key research needs and priorities for the future. Resource mobilization and support for the research agenda will be undertaken by the new Advocacy and Resource Mobilization Working Group as a key component of its efforts in 2019.

The research agenda has benefited from many contributors. 144  people joined the working group and many participated in sub-group teleconferences and email exchanges from September to October 2018. Further input was received from a broad community of researchers during an October 27 workshop at the Coalition for Operational Research on Neglected Tropical Diseases (COR-NTD) meeting in New Orleans, USA.

The Research Agenda Working Group will conclude its work in March. In early April, the partnership will facilitate a discussion to identify the most efficient way to build upon and foster knowledge exchanges and potential areas of joint work, including priority areas for research and the development of proposals.

Written by Courtenay Dusenbury, Secretariat Director