Global health partnership funding

Addressing the shifting global burden of disease

World Bank Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF)

Designed and delivered by The World Bank, our contribution to GRSF supports research to address the growing public health crisis of road traffic deaths and injuries in LMICs. The research aims to help effectively manage road safety through supporting the scale-up of:

• scientific capacities
• technological capacities
• managerial capacities

Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD)

NIHR is a funding partner with GACD - a unique collaboration of the world’s largest health research funding agencies. The initiative aims to tackle the burden of non-communicable diseases in LMICs. This is achieved by using implementation science to build the evidence base for sound policymaking.

NIHR typically funds 4 to 5 awards through GACD calls in partnership with the Medical Research Council (MRC).

Grand Challenges Canada Global Mental Health Programme

Grand Challenges Canada Global Mental Health Programme provides funding for existing activities alongside Global Affairs Canada and Foundation Botnar.

The programme supports high impact innovations that improve treatments and/or expand access to care for people living with or are at risk of mental health disorders, with a focus on the mental health needs of young people in LMICs.

Joint Global Health Trials (JGHT)

Funded alongside 3 other funders, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the Medical Research Council (MRC) and Wellcome, JGHT focuses on research which:

• yields implementable results
• addresses the major causes of mortality or morbidity in LMICs

NIHR-MRC Global Maternal and Neonatal Health

Co-created and co-funded with the MRC, NIHR-MRC Global Maternal and Neonatal Health supports research to:

• address the burden of maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity in LMICs

Global Patient Safety Collaborative (GPSC)

GPSC is a collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO). The Collaborative aims to:

• secure and scale up global action on patient safety
• work in collaboration with LMICs to reduce the risk of avoidable harm and improve the safety of their national health care systems 

Developing health systems to identify and respond to population needs

Alliance for Health Systems and Policy Research (AHPSR)

NIHR works with the WHO-hosted international partnership AHPSR. This alliance supports the generation and use of evidence that strengthens the health systems of LMICs.

Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (R2HC)

R2HC was developed by Elrha alongside co-funders, the FCDO and, previously, Wellcome. This partnership aims to develop more effective responses to humanitarian challenges. This is achieved by providing significant funding for high quality research.

Diagnostics, Prosthetics and Orthotics to Tackle Health Challenges in Developing Countries

The Diagnostics, Prosthetics and Orthotics to Tackle Health Challenges in Developing Countries partnership with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) supports research on innovative healthcare technologies. The partnership aims to tackle the challenges faced by LMICs through, for example:

• low cost, rapid, point-of-care imaging diagnostic technologies
• affordable prosthetics and orthotics

Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (RSTMH) Early Career Grants Programme

The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (RSTMH) Early Career Grants Programme partnership supports LMIC-based early career researchers to develop their research skills and expertise. To date the scheme has funded awards in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

This partnership contributes to the NIHR Global Health Research priority to strengthen research capacity in LMICs.  

NIHR-Wellcome Global Health Research Partnership

The NIHR-Wellcome Global Health Research Partnership funded existing work developed by Wellcome to support Masters, postdoctoral and early career researchers from LMICs and the UK. Its initiatives supported:

• high quality research in health priority areas for LMICs
• activities to improve research uptake into policy

The partnership aimed to level the playing-field of access to research funding. It contributed to the NIHR Global Health Research priority to strengthen research capacity in LMICs.

Biomedical Resources Grant, Harmonisation and Sharing of Linked HIV Cohort Data from Communities and Clinics in Africa

The Biomedical Resources Grant, Harmonisation and Sharing of Linked HIV Cohort Data from Communities and Clinics in Africa partnership was funded the existing Wellcome Trust Biomedical Resources programme. It aimed to support the harmonisation and sharing of linked HIV cohort data from communities and clinics in Africa.

The activities of this partnership are now all complete.

Applied Research for Adolescent Health in LMICs

The Applied Research for Adolescent Health in LMICs initiative was co-created and co-funded between NIHR and MRC. The partnership supports research to generate new knowledge, helping to improve adolescent health in LMICs with increased effectiveness and accessibility of health interventions.

Building resilience to tackle future global health threats

Clinical trials

European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP)

NIHR has made major investments in EDCTP to deliver collaborative research. This aims to accelerate the clinical development of new or improved interventions to prevent or treat:

• poverty related diseases in sub-Saharan Africa
• emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases affecting sub-Saharan Africa

Antimicrobial resistance

Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative on building sustainable operational research capacity on antimicrobial resistance in LMICs

The Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative on building sustainable operational research capacity on antimicrobial resistance in LMICs was co-created alongside the WHO. It was designed to fund the Structured Operational Research and Training IniTiative (SORT-IT) programme with a specific focus on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR SORT-IT).

The programme aims to limit the public health problem of AMR by generating and using evidence on its emergence, spread and health impact. This is achieved by building sustainable operational research capacity.

Antimicrobial Resistance in a Global Context

The Antimicrobial Resistance in a Global Context was co-created and funded alongside the MRC. It supports research at international levels to identify the burden and primary drivers of AMR. A particular focus is applied to antibacterial resistance in LMICs.

Antimicrobial Resistance Cross-Council Initiative: Behaviour within and beyond the health care setting

Antimicrobial Resistance Cross-Council Initiative: Behaviour within and beyond the health care setting  was delivered by the Economic and Social Research Council. It investigated behaviour within and beyond the healthcare setting (theme 4 of the cross-council initiative on AMR) and how the behaviour of public, professionals and organisations impacts on AMR.

The activities of this partnership are now all complete.

Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership’s Neonatal Sepsis Programme (GARDP) support

GARDP supported a research and development initiative to address global public health needs by developing, delivering, and assuring sustainable access of new or improved antibiotic treatments.

The activities of this partnership are now all complete. 

COVID-19 research response

In partnership with the Medical Research Council/UKRI, DHSC developed and launched the Global Effort on COVID-19 (GECO) Health Research. This focused on 4 of the priority research topics highlighted by WHO’s Coordinated Global Research Roadmap:

• epidemiology
• clinical management
• infection prevention and control
• social sciences in the outbreak response

A total of 21 awards were made between October 2020 and February 2021, with a duration of up to 18 months. This saw an investment of £8m across 21 developing countries in 5 regions.

As part of this investment, a researcher coordination platform was created, COVID CIRCLE. This platform supports researchers working on COVID-19, sharing relevant resources and research networks to support COVID-19 research in, with and for low resource settings. From this, a COVID-19 research database, COVID-19 Research Project Tracker by UKCDR & GloPID-R | UKCDR was established. The unique, global database produces regular “Living Mapping Reviews” of COVID-19 research projects as an open-access, peer-reviewed paper updated every 3 months. This provides analysis of research funding, gaps, opportunities and trends. The Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness (GloPID-R) research coordination group aims to expand this unique resource to include other infectious diseases of pandemic and outbreak potential through the support of international funders including DHSC.

A Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (R2HC) COVID-19 rapid response call was launched to fund research to support the COVID-19 response in humanitarian settings. R2HC is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Wellcome and DHSC through Elhra, a global charity.

Research management

Good Financial Grants Practice

The Good Financial Grants Practice partnership supports the initiative set up by the African Academy of Science to develop the world’s first international standard for good financial practice in grant management.

This partnership contributed to the NIHR Global Health Research priority to strengthen research capacity in LMICs.

Product Development Partnerships (PDPs)

Coalition on Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation (CEPI)

The CEPI partnership aims to:

• stimulate and accelerate the development of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases
• enable access to these vaccines for people during outbreaks

Medicines for Malaria Ventures (MMV)

The MMV partnership aimed to:

• reduce the burden of malaria in disease-endemic countries by discovering, developing and delivering new, effective and affordable antimalarial drugs

Global Alliance for TB Drug Development

The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development partnership aims to:

• carry out activities relating to the development of new drugs to treat tuberculosis

Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND)

The FIND partnership aimed to:

• develop, evaluate and deliver high quality affordable diagnostic tests for poverty-related diseases

Most PDP activities are now complete.