Meetings and Events

We welcomed newly-appointed Professor of Global Health, Professor Justine Davies, to the meeting and the Network. Prof Davies gave an insightful talk about "Access to care for trauma in LMICs – what we don’t know". The second half of the meeting was devoted to a second round of Pitch-to-Peer session: three of our researchers were given opportunity to work with the academics present to development their ideas further.

Our October meeting was joint-hosted with The Institute for Global Innovation. We welcomed Gary Hickey, from INVOLVE, and Professor Sophie Staniszewska, from INVOLVE and Warwick Medical School, to talk about the increasing importance Patient and Public Involvement has in research. Dr Anna Lavis of the University's Department of Applied Health Sciences shared her reflections on including public involvement at the centre of recent MRC bid developed with LMIC partners.

July's meeting, hosted with The Institute for Global Innovation, was opened by Prof David Adams. The meeting focussed on developing Global Health Research ideas. Members of the Network were invited to bring their research ideas to round-table discussions, to develop ideas further with peers from across the University. To shape conversation, Professor Neil Thomas shared insights and best-practice from a recent study on the Health Consequences of Air Pollution in LMICs, and Dr Malcolm Price outlined a proposed study on Consequences of Breastfeeding and Interventions to Promote it in LMICs and invited feedback.

Our second meeting included a talk by Professor Paul Moss, Director of Research and Knowledge Transfer in the Medical School, and former Chair of the MRC's Infection and Immunity Board, about What Makes a Good Global Health Application, and Insights from Global Health Funding Panels. The meeting showcased recent global and collaborative successes within the University of Birmingham, including a presentation from Professor Adam Cunningham, Co-Director of the BactiVac Network, on The Bacterial Vaccines Network (BactiVac): transforming UoB research through global health funding, and a presentation by Dr Paul Lynch, Insights from across disciplines — Early childhood development, education and disability in Malawi.

The first meeting of the Global Health Research Network was opened by Professor David Adams, Head of College of Medical and Dental Sciences (now College of Medicine and Health), and included an introduction to the Network from Professor Rachel Jordan, Academic Lead for Global Health. Professor Hisham Mehanna gave an overview of The Institute for Global Innovation and Dr Georgina Drury detailed Global Health funding opportunities that are available.