Building and Evaluating Research Capacity in Healthcare Systems Case Studies and Innovative Models

There have been many calls internationally over the past decade to strengthen, support and sustain research capacity in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Research capacity is considered an essential foundation for costeffective healthcare systems. There is growing recognition that a more systems-oriented approach to research capacity building is appropriate. While many countries and research funding organisations have invested in training individuals for this purpose, in many LMICs research capacity remains fragmented, uneven and fragile. This book addresses these gaps, capturing what was learned from teams working on the Global Health Research Initiative. It brings together the experiences of 13 research capacity-building teams co-led by Canadians and LMIC researchers in several regions of the world including Sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America and Asia.

Nancy Edwards is Professor at the School of Nursing, Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa. A nurse epidemiologist with nearly 40 years of experience in the field of public health her research examines multi-strategy and multi-level interventions in community health. Eulalia Kahwa is Lecturer at the School of Nursing, University of the West Indies. A nurse and lecturer with over 30 years of experience in healthcare and nursing education, her research in HIV/AIDS and nutrition contributes to health programme delivery across the Caribbean and internationally. Dan Kaseje is Professor and Vice Chancellor at the Great Lakes University of Kisumu, Kenya.