Adapting teaching and learning in times of COVID-19: a comparative assessment among higher education institutions in a global health network in 2020.

BACKGROUND: This research examines the ways in which higher education institutions (HEIs) across the tropEd Network for Education in International Health (tropEd) began to adapt their teaching and learning approaches in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Already during this early phase of the pandemic HEIs' responses demonstrate global health approaches emphasising cooperation and communication, rather than national health driven strategies that emphasise quarantine and control. Key lessons learnt for multiple dimensions of teaching and learning in global health are thus identified, and challenges and opportunities discussed. METHODS: Data collection includes a cross-sectional online survey among tropEd member institutions (n = 19) in mid-2020, and a complementary set of open-ended questions generating free-text responses (n = 9). Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics, textual data were analysed using a Framework Analysis approach. RESULTS: While early on in the pandemic the focus was on a quick emergency switch to online teaching formats to ensure short-term continuity, and developing the administrative and didactic competence and confidence in digital teaching, there is already recognition among HEIs of the necessity for more fundamental quality and longer-term reforms in higher education in global health. Alongside practical concerns about the limitations of digital teaching, and declines in student numbers, there is a growing awareness of opportunities in terms of inclusivity, the necessity of cross-border cooperation, and a global health approach. The extent to which the lack of physical mobility impacts HEI programmes in global health is debated. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about preventive measures that have had a considerable impact on various dimensions of academic teaching in global health. Going forward, international HEIs' experiences and response strategies can help generate important lessons for academic institutions across different settings worldwide.

Training through malaria research: building capacity in good clinical and laboratory practice in Liberia.

BACKGROUND: Limited health research capacities (HRC) undermine a country's ability to identify and adequately respond to local health needs. Although numerous interventions to strengthen HRC have been conducted in Africa, there is a need to share the lessons learnt by funding organizations, institutes and researchers. The aim of this report is to identify best practices in HRC strengthening by describing a training programme conducted between 2016 and 2017 at the Saint Joseph's Catholic Hospital (SJCH) in Monrovia (Liberia). METHODS: A call for trainees was launched at the SJCH, the Liberia Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Authority (LMHRA), the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Mother Pattern College of Health Sciences (MPCHS) and community members. Selected trainees participated in four workshops on Good Clinical Laboratory Practice (GCLP), standard operating procedures (SOP) and scientific communication, as well as in a 5-months eLearning mentoring programme. After the training, a collectively-designed research project on malaria was conducted. RESULTS: Twenty-one of the 28 trainees (14 from the SJCH, 3 from LMHRA, one from MPCHS, and 10 community representatives) completed the programme satisfactorily. Pre- and post-training questionnaires completed by 9 of the trainees showed a 14% increase in the percentage of correct answers. Trainees participated in a mixed-methods cross-sectional study of Plasmodium falciparum infection among pregnant women at the SJCH. Selected trainees disseminated activities and research outcomes in three international meetings and three scientific publications. CONCLUSION: This training-through-research programme successfully involved SJCH staff and community members in a practical research exercise on malaria during pregnancy. The challenge is to ensure that the SJCH remains active in research. Harmonization of effectiveness indicators for HRC initiatives would strengthen the case for investing in such efforts.

Global action for training in malaria elimination.

The Rethinking Malaria Leadership Forum, held at Harvard Business School in February 2017 with collaboration of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, identified this training gap as a high priority for both analysis and action. The gap in human resource training for malaria elimination needs to be addressed in order to assure continued progress. This paper identifies major gaps in skills and human resources, suggests institutions that can assist in filling the training gaps, and proposes global actions to implement expanded training for malaria elimination in endemic countries.

Competencies for Transformational Leadership in Public Health-An International Delphi Consensus Study.

Objectives: This Delphi study intended to develop competencies for transformational leadership in public health, including behavioral descriptions (descriptors) tailored to individuals and their contexts. Methods: The study involved five rounds, including online "e-Delphi" consultations and real-time online workshops with experts from diverse sectors. Relevant competencies were identified through a literature review, and experts rated, ranked, rephrased, and proposed descriptors. The study followed the Guidance on Conducting and REporting DElphi Studies (CREDES) and the COmpeteNcy FramEwoRk Development in Health Professions (CONFERD-HP) reporting guidelines. Results: Our framework comprises ten competencies for transformational public health leadership (each with its descriptors) within four categories, and also describes a four-stage model for developing relevant competencies tailored to different contexts. Conclusion: Educators responsible for curriculum design, particularly those aiming to align curricula with local goals, making leadership education context-specific and -sensitive, may benefit from the proposed framework. Additionally, it can help strengthen links between education and workforce sectors, address competency gaps, and potentially reduce the out-migration of graduates in the health professions.

Building management and innovation capabilities for global health: a senior executive program.

Accurately approaching the major challenges associated with global health management has become a mandatory key point in the training of medical leaders around the world. The Senior Executive Program in Global Health Innovation Management (SEPGHIM) seeks to provide an answer to the need for innovation and managerial capacity building in Global Health and to address the current detachment between Public Health Organizations and Business Schools. In 2019, SEPGHIM's first edition was led by five prestigious academic institutions on three continents. The first cohort included a total of 27 high-level health professionals and executives from 16 countries with 7-10 years of working experience who participated during the 11 months of the course. The program sought to fill an often-found knowledge gap among health professionals in terms of health innovation, leadership, and management. SEPGHIM relied on multiple pedagogical methods conveyed through a robust theoretical and applied syllabus that included case studies, simulations, guest speakers, debates, site visits, and an executive challenge. The program achieved various results. First, it recruited high-level health professionals that ensured diversity of backgrounds, allowing an exchange of experiences and different ways of addressing global health challenges. Second, it created a network of health professionals for possible future collaborations that can anticipate new trends and opportunities in global health and work together with stakeholders from other sectors. This networking was one of the most highly rated benefits by the students. Finally, the participants expressed great eagerness to recommend the program (4.9 out of 5) to other decision-makers and leaders in the global health field. These results provide positive insights regarding the value of such a training program for senior health professionals.

Rethinking human resources and capacity building needs for malaria control and elimination in Africa.

Despite considerable success in controlling malaria worldwide, progress toward achieving malaria elimination has largely stalled. In particular, strategies to overcome roadblocks in malaria control and elimination in Africa are critical to achieving worldwide malaria elimination goals-this continent carries 94% of the global malaria case burden. To identify key areas for targeted efforts, we combined a comprehensive review of current literature with direct feedback gathered from frontline malaria workers, leaders, and scholars from Africa. Our analysis identified deficiencies in human resources, training, and capacity building at all levels, from research and development to community involvement. Addressing these needs will require active and coordinated engagement of stakeholders as well as implementation of effective strategies, with malaria-endemic countries owning the relevant processes. This paper reports those valuable identified needs and their concomitant opportunities to accelerate progress toward the goals of the World Health Organization's Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016-2030. Ultimately, we underscore the critical need to re-think current approaches and expand concerted efforts toward increasing relevant human resources for health and capacity building at all levels if we are to develop the relevant competencies necessary to maintain current gains while accelerating momentum toward malaria control and elimination.

What Africa can do to accelerate and sustain progress against malaria.

After a longstanding global presence, malaria is now largely non-existent or suppressed in most parts of the world. Today, cases and deaths are primarily concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa. According to many experts, this persistence on the African continent reflects factors such as resistance to insecticides and drugs as well as insufficient access to essential commodities such as insecticide-treated nets and effective drugs. Crucially, however, this narrative ignores many central weaknesses in the fight against malaria and instead reinforces a narrow, commodity-driven vision of disease control. This paper therefore describes the core challenges hindering malaria programs in Africa and highlights key opportunities to rethink current strategies for sustainable control and elimination. The epidemiology of malaria in Africa presents far greater challenges than elsewhere and requires context-specific initiatives tailored to national and sub-national targets. To sustain progress, African countries must systematically address key weaknesses in its health systems, improve the quality and use of data for surveillance-responses, improve both technical and leadership competencies for malaria control, and gradually reduce overreliance on commodities while expanding multisectoral initiatives such as improved housing and environmental sanitation. They must also leverage increased funding from both domestic and international sources, and support pivotal research and development efforts locally. Effective vaccines and drugs, or other potentially transformative technologies such as genedrive modified mosquitoes, could further accelerate malaria control by complementing current tools. However, our underlying strategies remain insufficient and must be expanded to include more holistic and context-specific approaches critical to achieve and sustain effective malaria control.

Benefits and barriers in a clinical research competency development scheme for low- and middle-income countries.

BACKGROUND: The EDCTP-TDR Clinical Research and Development Fellowship (CRDF) scheme has offered one-year clinical research training placements for early- and mid-career researchers from LMIC since 1999. OBJECTIVE: Using the results of a 2018 external evaluation of the CRDF, the current article aims to identify the principal benefits for the main stakeholders of the CRDF scheme as well as the main barriers to accessing these benefits. METHOD: Data analysis was derived from an external evaluation of the CRDF scheme. Based on a logical framework approach, data for the external evaluation was collected through document review, interviews, focus groups, and questionnaires collected from the main stakeholder groups. The evaluation was structured along six main themes: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, sustainability, and equity. RESULTS: The current paper focuses on the expected benefits, unexpected benefits, and barriers to enjoying benefits of the scheme for key stakeholders. DISCUSSION: Expected benefits were aligned with the development of clinical research competencies, which is the objective of the scheme. Unexpected benefits centred on transferable professional skills in scientific leadership and knowledge translation. Barriers mainly were found around engagement with home institutions and the return and reintegration of fellows following the training period. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Recommendations include further engagement with and support for home institutions and developing a formal framework for the development of transferable professional competencies, including leadership and knowledge transfer competencies.

Early Interventions and Impact of COVID-19 in Spain.

The health crisis emerging from China in January 2020 has spread around the world resulting in a disruption of daily life activity in many countries. In response to this health threat, different measures have been implemented by national governments to minimize the possible health consequences. This article explores the initial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain, providing an epidemiological overview and reviewing the early measures developed to control its spread. On 1 April, Spain was the country with the second highest incidence in the world; with 104,118 positive cases detected and 9387 deaths recorded. Among these, 20.2% of positive cases were among healthcare professionals. In addition to the unprecedented health crisis, the lockdown interventions employed were considered to be among the strictest measures implemented through European countries. These measures were initially successful in controlling local transmission, but resulted in severe economic and social impacts. A critical review of the actions taken and their impact on the Spanish population could contribute to guide and inform decision-making in future pandemic situations.

Where is the 'global' in the European Union's Health Research and Innovation Agenda?

Global Health has not featured as prominently in the European Union (EU) research agenda in recent years as it did in the first decade of the new millennium, and participation of low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) in EU health research has declined substantially. The Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Framework adopted by the European Parliament in April 2019 for the period 2021-2027 will serve as an important funding instrument for health research, yet the proposed health research budget to be finalised towards the end of 2019 was reduced from 10% in the current framework, Horizon 2020, to 8% in Horizon Europe. Our analysis takes the evolvement of Horizon Europe from the initial framework of June 2018 to the framework agreed on in April 2019 into account. It shows that despite some improvements in terms of Global Health and reference to the Sustainable Development Goals, European industrial competitiveness continues to play a paramount role, with Global Health research needs and relevant health research for LMICs being only partially addressed. We argue that the globally interconnected nature of health and the transdisciplinary nature of health research need to be fully taken into account and acted on in the new European Research and Innovation Framework. A facilitated global research collaboration through Horizon Europe could ensure that Global Health innovations and solutions benefit all parts of the world including EU countries.

Research Capacity Strengthening in Low and Middle Income Countries - An Evaluation of the WHO/TDR Career Development Fellowship Programme.

Between August 2012 and April 2013 the Career Development Fellowship programme of the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (World Health Organization) underwent an external evaluation to assess its past performance and determine recommendations for future programme development and continuous performance improvement. The programme provides a year-long training experience for qualified researchers from low and middle income countries at pharmaceutical companies or product development partnerships. Independent evaluators from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health used a results-based methodology to review the programme. Data were gathered through document review, surveys, and interviews with a range of programme participants. The final evaluation report found the Career Development Fellowship to be relevant to organizers' and programme objectives, efficient in its operations, and effective in its training scheme, which was found to address needs and gaps for both fellows and their home institutions. Evaluators found that the programme has the potential for impact and sustainability beyond the programme period, especially with the successful reintegration of fellows into their home institutions, through which newly-developed skills can be shared at the institutional level. Recommendations included the development of a scheme to support the re-integration of fellows into their home institutions post-fellowship and to seek partnerships to facilitate the scaling-up of the programme. The impact of the Professional Membership Scheme, an online professional development tool launched through the programme, beyond the scope of the Career Development Fellowship programme itself to other applications, has been identified as a positive unintended outcome. The results of this evaluation may be of interest for other efforts in the field of research capacity strengthening in LMICs or, generally, to other professional development schemes of a similar structure.

An enantioselective entry to cis-perhydroisoquinolines.

An enantioselective route to cis-perhydroisoquinolines, involving a cyclocondensation reaction of (R)-phenylglycinol with a racemic oxoester, a stereoselective conjugate addition to an unsaturated bicyclic lactam, and the closure of the carbocyclic ring by a ring-closing metathesis as the key steps is reported. This route allows the preparation of 3-cyano derivatives as well as cis-octahydroisoquinolines bearing a quaternary center at the C4-position. [reaction: see text]

Synthesis of 3-aminolactams as X-Gly constrained pseudodipeptides and conformational study of a Trp-Gly surrogate.

3-Amino-delta-valerolactams trans-11a-c were synthesized through conjugate addition and Curtius rearrangement and converted into Fmoc-[Trp-Gly], Fmoc-[Ile-Gly], and Fmoc-[Phe-Gly] pseudodipeptides. Conformational analyses of tripeptide analogues Ac-[Trp-Gly]-Leu-NH(2) 17a and 17b by NMR experiments and molecular modeling calculations showed that diastereomer 17a adopted a gamma-turn/distorted type II beta-turn structure, whereas diastereomer 17b adopted mainly a gamma-turn structure.

Spirolactams as conformationally restricted pseudopeptides: synthesis and conformational analysis.

The synthesis of 1-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-7-[1-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-3-methylbutyl]-6-oxo-1,7-diazaspiro[4.5]decanes (S,S)-1a and (S,R)-1b is described. Derivatives 17a,b and 19a are prepared for use in peptide synthesis as constrained surrogates of the Pro-Leu and Gly-Leu dipeptides. The Ac-[Gly-Leu]-Met-NH(2) derivatives (S,S,S)-2a and (S,R,S)-2b, with the tripeptidic C-terminal region present in tachykinins, are also synthesized. Conformational analyses of these tripetide analogues by NMR experiments and molecular modeling calculations show that both (S,S,S)-2a and (S,R,S)-2b epimers are gamma-turn/distorted type II beta-turn mimetics.