Published: 21 September 2022
Ten new NIHR Global Health Research Units have been awarded funding under the programme’s second call to deliver high-quality applied global health research and training in low and middle income countries (LMICs) over the next five years. The awards are funded through Official Development Assistance (ODA) from the UK aid budget.
The Global Health Research Units scheme funds large scale, ambitious programmes of applied health research that will address locally-identified challenges through equitable partnerships between researchers and institutions in the UK and those in LMICs. As well as conducting research to improve health outcomes for people living in LMICs, the Units also strengthen research capability and capacity in resource-poor settings.
The successful applicants were selected by an independent funding committee in 2021 following open competition. The new cohort of Units will build on the success of the previous phase of the programme, which ran from 2016 to 2021. Each of the Units will receive up to £7m over the next five years - 2022 to 2027.
The programme will meet NIHR’s strategic priorities for Global Health Research, to:
- address the shifting global burden of disease,
- develop health systems to identify and respond to population needs,
- build resilience to tackle future global health threats, and
- strengthen research capacity in LMICs through equitable partnerships between LMIC and UK researchers.
The 10 NIHR Global Health Research Units awarded funding are as follows:
- NIHR Global Health Research Unit on CLEAN-Air (Africa)
- NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Diabetes and Cardiovascular disease in South Asia
- NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Genomics and enabling data for surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance
- NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery: Establishing a Sustainable Network of Surgical Research
- NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Health financing for Universal Health Coverage
- NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Neglected Tropical Diseases
- NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Neurodevelopment and Autism in South Asia
- NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Respiratory Health
- NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Social and Environmental Determinants of Health Inequalities
- NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Stillbirths and neonatal deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia
More details of these awards can be found on our Funding and Awards website.
Sarah Puddicombe, Assistant Director of Global Health Research programmes at NIHR, said: “We are delighted to announce this new phase of NIHR Global Health Research Units, which build on the success of the programme over the past five years. Each of these new Units will conduct cutting-edge applied health research that addresses unmet needs in LMICs, using UK Aid to benefit the most vulnerable communities living in LMICs.”
“The Units are a great example of how leading UK researchers, working in equitable partnerships with researchers in LMICs, can deliver high-quality impactful research and capacity strengthening, as well as sustainable community engagement and involvement. This combined approach helps to ensure the relevance of the research within LMICs and the uptake of the emerging findings to inform policy and practice.”
Details of the outcomes and impacts of Global Health Research Units awarded funding in Call 1 (2016 to 2021) can be found below:
- Collaborative research to tackle neglected tropical diseases in East Africa
- Addressing the rise of diabetes and heart disease in South Asia
- Midwives leading the way on stillbirth prevention and bereavement care research
- Improving global surgical outcomes through collaborative research
- Working together for better lung health
- How CLEAN-Air Africa is tackling the hidden killer of household air pollution
- Tracking global antimicrobial resistance with genomic sequencing