Anna Laura, this is a really important conversation. In the work I lead supporting strengthening of the clinical research ecosystem, sustainable health impact occurs when countries and regions develop integrated capacities linking preclinical, clinical, regulatory, ethics, lab, data, manufacturing amongst others. For me the key is how countries and regions can confidently move ahead with the next priorities for investment in developing this integrated system towards improving access to accessible, quality, safe and effective interventions that are appropriate for their populations, and based on engagement with those populations in the clinical development process. So the clinical research only works for population benefit as one critical pillar of the whole. And going a step further the ecosystem needs to be able to assess resource efficient mixes of interventions that are suitable for different settings. In the SDG era, we are way beyond one size fits all solutions for global health problems.
💊 Having worked in biomedical R&D in one capacity or another for 20 years, I have been reflecting on how our understanding of the broader ecosystem has been changing over the years.
🔬 When I first started my research career, I had little to no interactions with the clinical interface. However over the years, I increasingly straddled across basic sciences, translational research and clinical trials and product development, with deep involvement in all elements of the R&D continuum.
🌍 Today, in my position at World Health Organization, we implement activities to optimize and support R&D at all levels, and to ensure the most efficient links between the interconnected elements of the R&D ecosystem, starting from the research workforce capacity.
➡ How is the new generation of research workforce trained in your country? Are the drivers PhDs? Or MScs and MPH?
➡ Can you achieve best practices in one element of the R&D ecosystem independently of others? Or are the elements all interconnected, and only as strong as the weakest link?
➡ How do countries determine their research priorities and funding allocation?
With thanks to Amina Haouala who developed the infographic. Sarah Charnaud Mercedes Perez Gonzalez Ghassan Karam, MSc Luis Gabriel Cuervo Vasee Moorthy Martina Penazzato Wei Zhang Robert Terry Mengji Chen Tarang Sharma
#randd #rd #biomedicalresearch #healthresearch
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Principal Medical Director, Neuroscience at Roche
1moA huge thank you to IntechOpen and Alen Juginović, M.D. for this interview!