The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) has been selected to lead the research arm of the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST) to continue to help respond to global health emergencies.

Building on nearly a decade of collaborative research between UKHSA and LSHTM since UK-PHRST was established in 2016, the expanded partnership brings together world-leading expertise in epidemic preparedness and response, with a central commitment to shared leadership between UK and low- and middle-income country (LMIC) institutions.

The new research partnership includes;

• the pan-African École Inter-États des Sciences et Médecine Vétérinaires
• the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b)
• Makerere University, Uganda
• the Université Catholique de Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo; SIMAD University, Somalia
• Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
• Oxford University's Pandemic Sciences Institute.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention will serve as a convening and coordinating actor across the partnership.

A research plan designed to fill gaps in epidemic preparedness and response

With continued funding from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and in partnership with the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the £18million 5-year programme will conduct applied research across Africa and Southeast Asia, spanning the readiness, detection and response phases of epidemic outbreaks. 

A defining feature of the new partnership is its commitment to equitable research leadership. LMIC institutions will co-identify and co-lead research projects, with a commitment to LMIC-led authorship on peer-reviewed publications. Governance will be shared through a Research Advisory Group.

You can find the full details about the new partnership and its academic research themes on the LSHTM website.

UK-PHRST Research Partnership agrees equitable research framework

The new Rapid Support Team Research Partnership met in London in July, bringing together all international and UK-based partners for the first time.

Working together, the partnership began developing a new Theory of Change, agreeing outcomes and outputs to measure the impact of future UK-PHRST research. They also co-developed a framework for equitable governance and research management – a key value at the core of the partnership.

In terms of next steps, partners will further develop governance frameworks and finalise the research proposals that will be implemented over the next few years.