Dear HIFA colleagues,
I would like to highlight a number of points made in WHO's official launch webinar of the Global Research Agenda on Knowledge Translation and Evidence-informed Policy-making. Tikki Pang (who drafted the WHO letter of support for HIFA back in 2006) and Rob Terry (who is HIFA's lead contact at TDR) were among the panellists. I add comments below.
INTERVENTIONS - ORDERED BY PRIORITY
institutionalization
evaluation
public health emergencies
assessing capacity, strengthening interventions, including adaptation scale up.
strategies for scaling up Kt and Apa interventions in general.
identifying, developing, and assessing evidence to policy, engagement mechanisms and best practices.
improvement of communication of research findings
BARRIERS, FACILITATORS AND OPPORTUNITIES
examine contextual factors in research uptake
analyze factors determining the engagement of decision makers in evidence uptake
integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion
understand approaches for policy learning and transferring of successful Kt and eip approaches
engage individuals with lived experience in knowledge, generation, and translation.
investigate factors that affect the relationships between the generators, intermediaries, and users of evidence as well as citizens.
METHOD STANDARDS, MEASUREMENTS USING FRAMEWORK
artificial intelligence
decolonization
explore methods for intersecting Kt and eip with basic science, clinical practice, public health, political science
integrating and harmonizing local and global knowledge in the in the Kt process and to improve evidence, contextualization.
typologies, metrics, and standardizations for Kt and eip approaches
NEXT STEPS
Funding
partnerships and collaboration
KT teaching and training
M&E
develop implementation plans
COMMENTS
1. The speaker noted that the list under Interventions is ordered by priority. I would put 'improvement of communication of research findings' higher up the list, but would emphasise that it is not the specific communication of research findings that is most important, but the availability of reliable information based on research (which is not synonymous).
2. Angela Betnarek, Director Scientific Advancement at the Pew Charital Trust in the US noted: "These are big questions that can be addressed with lots of people coming together". HIFA is doing just this: bringing people together across the global evidence ecosystem to address how to improve knowledge translation. I invite the panellists and participants to join HIFA.
3. The William T Grant Foundation was identified as a big supporter of knowledge translation. I look forward to exploring possibilities that they might support HIFA activities, perhaps our WHO Collaboration Plan 2025-2027? If anyone has a contact at the Foundation, please let us know.
4. Catherine Oliver, Professor of Evidence and Policy at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the UK and also a director of the NIHR Policy Research program in the UK (both the LSHTM and NIHR are HIFA supporting organsations) made some very good points: be aware of what is already out there, ensure that when you're investing new research funding, be sure that you're addressing a genuine evidence gap before investing in new activities.
5. Rose Oronje, African Institute for Development Policy noted 'there's so many conferences this year on the Continent on evidence. There are 2 next month, and then there's another one in September, and I think there's another one later in the year. How do we use these platforms to have forums where we talk about this global this agenda to bring in issues that align with our context.' I would add that we should also be building and strengthening communication *in-between* conferences through communities of practice like HIFA.
7. Rob Terry mentioned that TDR will soon be making a call to support some research projects in this area. I'll keep an eye out for this and will share on HIFA when it's available.
Read more here: https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2025/05/15/default-calendar/...
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org