Strengthening Universities' Contributions to Better Global Health: Contributions of implementation science and knowledge translation in a public health crisis and advancing towards universal health coverage

Satellite ID: SA11
Satellite Organizer: Brown University

Date: March 7th, 2024

Time: 8:00am - 4:00pm
Room: San Diego

The satellite session will be a full day (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.), comprising three panels and one round table. The satellite session will explore how universities can contribute to better global health. The discussion will bring together experts from the global north and south to examine strategies, challenges, and methodology that can contribute to more robust preparedness efforts and implementation of science’s role in responding to future crises effectively and advancing toward universal coverage.

Overview: Professor Peter Berman and Professor Malabika Sarker: 10 min

Opening: Associate Professor Craig Spencer, Health Services, Policy and Practice, Brown University: 15 Min

Four sessions will include:
Session 1: 8.30 am – 9.45 am

Universities engagement with government and non-government organizations to contribute knowledge and education to improve policies and programs: Challenges and Opportunities (Chair, Professor Malabika Sarker, Brown University)

  • Professor Emeritus Peter Berman, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

  • Dr. Rachel Snow, Former Branch Chief of Population and Development in the Technical Division of UNFPA, New York

  • Professor Patty Garcia, Ex-Minister of Health, Peru

  • Professor Emilia Noormahomed, Mozambique, and UCSD

Session 2: 9.45– 11.00 am

Strengthening implementation science/research in support of knowledge translation for better policies and programs -- Methods, reliability/replicability, creating confidence and use of findings (Chair, Prof. Adam Levine, Associate Dean of Global Health Equity, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University)

  • Professor Malabika Sarker, Brown SPH, Brown University, USA

  • Professor Donna Spiegelman, Director Yale Center for Methods in Implementation and Prevention Science (CMIPS), Yale University, USA

  • Professor Olakunle Alonge, Director Sparkman Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA

  • Professor Emeritus Nelson Sewankambo, Former Dean, SPH, Makerere University Uganda

Health Break: 11.00 am – 11.15 am

Session 3: 11.15 am – 12.45 pm

How did science interact with government and politics during the COVID-19 pandemic? What lessons for future academic/government collaboration? (Chair: Emeritus Professor Peter Berman, UBC)

  • Professor Scott L Greer, University of Michigan, Michigan

  • Professor Sarthak Gaurav, IIT-Bombay, India

  • Professor Jennifer Nuzzo, Director, Pandemic Center, Brown University

  • Professor Ximena Patricia Garzón Villalba, University of Sanfrancisco de Quito Formal Health Minister, Ecuador

Lunch 12.45 pm – 13.45 pm

Session 4: 13.45 – 15.00 pm

Knowledge Translation Experiences in Global South Health Systems: What can we learn? (Chair Rachel Snow, Former Branch Chief of Population and Development, UNFPA)

  • Dr. Mahnaz Vahedi, Scientist, TDR, Geneva, Switzerland

  • Professor Yodi Mahendradhata, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia

  • Dr. Meseret Zelalem, Lead Executive Officer (Director) for MCH, MoH Ethiopia

  • Dr. ASM Shahabuddin, Health Specialist-Implementation Research, Primary Health Care and Health Systems Strengthening Unit, MNCAH Programme, UNICEF HQ, New York.

Concluding Session: 15.00 pm – 16.00 pm

Chaired by Dr. Keith Martin, Founding Executive Director, Consortium of Universities in Global Health (CUGH) and Professor Nancy Reynolds, Associate Dean of Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and Director, Center for Global Initiatives

  • A concluding session with an open conversation about how CUGH and universities north and south could build better capacity for applied research and collaboration with governments and civil society to strengthen support for universities and their contributions to better policy and program outcomes. Is this an opportunity for CUGH?

Vote of Thanks/ Final Remarks: Professor Malabika Sarker, Brown University: 2 Minutes