RELIGHT – Research ExceLlence and Innovation in Global HealTh
The winners of the RELIGHT call 2019 are as follows: The Digital Health Promotion in the Global South project led by Josef Noll, The Child, Nutrition and Development (CHNUDEV) project led by Per Ole Iversen, and The Politics of Global health Security project led by Katerini Storeng.
The RELIGHT programme, supported by the Medical Faculty at UiO, facilitated by CGH, aims to assist these established research groups in becoming global leaders in their fields, reaching the status of ‘research and innovation excellence’. The assistance given will be through seed funding directed at positioning external funding applications.
We very much welcome you to join our annual Global Health Inspiration Days 2019 where each team will present their project in more detail.
Project: Digital Health Promotion in the Global South – (ProDHP)
The ProDHP project is addressing digital health promotion (DHP) and aims to contribute to better health outcomes in local global south societies. The main outcomes of DHP is the prevention of disease and health care system strengthening, in addition to societal empowerment and digital literacy. The RELIGHT funding will strengthen the DHP activities at UiO, with reviewing ongoing activities, and establishing a DHP consortium with international collaborations on a global scale. The goal is to increase the portfolio of digital health messages and create high quality, unbiased health animations related to antimicrobial resistance and sexual violence in the global south. (Digital Health)
Project: The Child, Nutrition and Development (CHNUDEV)
The Child, Nutrition and Development (CHNUDEV) project originates from a randomized trial conducted among mothers and their small children (6-8 months) in rural Uganda in 2013-14. The main aim was to test if maternal education encompassing aspects of nutrition, hygiene and stimulation would improve child growth and development outcomes. At ages 2 and 3 years, growth was only minimally affected, but the children from mothers in the intervention group scored far better on measures of cognitive, language and motor functions. Whereas gut microbiota abundance could not explain these findings, reduced maternal depression and better iodine status were associated with our positive findings. The team is now in the process of performing a follow-up study, as the children are about to start school (7-8 years), and the long-term goal is to monitor them again when they reach adulthood. (Nutrition)
Project: The Politics of Global Health Security
The Politics of Global Health Security project will develop critical social scientific research into pandemic preparedness, unpacking how knowledge about pandemic risk is produced, and the consequences for how particular pathways of response are identified and pursued. Based on the interdisciplinary Power and Politics in Global Health research group at the Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM), UiO, the project will explore how socio-political dynamics and power structures interact with governance arrangements and biomedical or technological practices. This includes studying the rationales and practices of private sector engagement in epidemic preparedness and response in Norway and globally. The RELIGHT funding will provide the basis for broader project collaborations and network building, setting the groundwork for proposals under, for example, the NORDFORSK societal security call and the EU’s Horizon 2020. (Infectious Diseases)