On 18th and 19th November 2019, the annual meeting of the Coalition for Operational Research in Neglected Tropical Diseases (COR-NTD) was held in National Harbor, Maryland. Several COUNTDOWN colleagues attended the conference and hosted the session ‘Approaches to Maximising the Influence of Implementation Research on Policy and Programming’ (1H).
The focus of the session was impact and how this can be achieved and sustained beyond changes to policy documentation. The session covered types of impact as well as a group work activity on issues surrounding maximising impact, in addition to identification of knowledge gaps. In attendance were the following COUNTDOWN team members:
- Dr Rachael Thomson (LSTM)
- Mr Anthony Bettee (UL-PIRE)
- Dr Akinola Oluwole (Sightsavers)
- Dr Theresa Hoke (FHI 360)
- Dr Laura Dean (LSTM)
The theme of COR-NTD in 2019 was ‘The Road to 2030’. Margaret Gyapong (UHAS) also interviewed Judith Saare from Ghana Health Service at the COR NTD Community of Practice side meeting, focusing on programme perspectives and priorities for research.
Outputs from the COR-NTD meeting can be viewed here and the specific session 1H chaired by Rachael Thomson can be found here.