The meeting of the External Advisory Board took place on November 23, 2023, where specialists from various countries participated and provided valuable contributions to the multi-country COHESION-I research project.
The Installation Meeting of the External Advisory Board was the first of a group of international experts guiding the implementation of the COHESION-I research activities in India, Mozambique, Nepal, and Peru.
The COHESION-I research project has two types of Advisory boards, the External Advisory Board with international experts and four National Advisory Boards per each country. The External Advisory Board comprises international experts in health systems, non-communicable and neglected tropical diseases, and social sciences from various countries on all continents. The External Advisory Board has annual meetings to provide feedback on the research project as it is carried out and recommendations to improve the research. On the other hand, the National Advisory Boards have two meetings per year, congregating key decision-makers, local authorities, healthcare professionals, and community members with interdisciplinary backgrounds and experience in their countries’ health.
The first meeting of the COHESION-I External Advisory Board was held in November 2023 and was chaired by Asst. Prof. David Beran, principal investigator of the COHESION Project (2016-2020, read more here) that preceded the COHESION-I Project (2022-2026). The Principal Investigator of COHESION-I, Dr. Maria Lazo Porras (Peru), the Joint-Lead Applicant Dr. Albertino Damasceno (Mozambique), and co-investigators Prof. Dr. Sanjib Sharma (Nepal) and Dr. Devarsetty Praveen (India), presented the new research project. This included a general overview of COHESION-I and its research components.
The meeting started with an introduction and contextualization of the project, followed by a presentation and discussion about the intervention implementation and evaluation research protocol. Participants discussed the importance of considering the cultural differences of the specific settings where the project activities and research are carried out. Advisors also recommended identifying early strategies for research dissemination and uptake among policymakers and encouraging community engagement and involvement in the different stages of the project.
During the conversation about the intervention evaluations, for example, advisors underlined the importance of analyzing research participants’ differences according to their life cycle or sex in the quantitative evaluation. However, they also indicated that if the sample size is too small, it wouldn’t be possible to do these subgroup analyses. Meeting participants also inquired about the possibility of using secondary health indicators such as glucose and blood pressure measurements. They indicated that for policymakers it would be valuable to have health indicators, not only outcomes related to patient satisfaction. Advisors mentioned doing these health measurements is not so costly and recommended the project leaders consider integrating them.
The meeting concluded with agreements about the next steps, which included determining the frequency of the meetings and a request from External Advisory Board members to receive progress reports every three months. The next meeting of this governance body is scheduled for July 3, 2024.
External Advisory Board
| NAME | COUNTRY | AFFILIATION(S) |
| Carla Silva Matos, MD MPH | Mozambique | Researcher at Global Fund Management Unit, Directorate of Planning and Cooperation, Ministry of Health of Mozambique |
| David Beran, MSc PhD | Switzerland | Assistant Professor at the Geneva University Hospitals and University of Geneva |
| Devaki Nambiar, PhD | India | Program Director at The George Institute for Global Health |
| Diego Lucumi Cuesta, MBBS MPH PhD | Colombia | Associate Professor at Universidad de los Andes |
| Edward Fottrell, MPH PhD | United Kingdom | Professor of Epidemiology & Global Health at University College London |
| Helena Legido-Quigley, MSc PhD | Spain / United Kingdom | Associate Professor at NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health |
| Jaime Miranda Montero, MD MSc PhD | Peru | Head of School and ProfessorResearch Associate |
| Kanchan K. Malik, MA/MMC PhD | India | Professor at University of Hyderabad |
| Kaushik Ramaiya, MD MSc | Tanzania | Chief Executive Officer and Consultant Physician/Endocrinologist at Department of Internal Medicine, Shree Hindu Mandal Hospital, Dar es SalaamHonorary Professor of Medicine and Global Health at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK |
| Koert Ritmeijer, MPH MSc PhD | Netherlands | Coordinator of Neglected Tropical Diseases Médecins Sans Frontières |
| Lisa R Hirschhorn, MPH MD | United States | Professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine |
| Margaret Elizabeth Kruk, MPH MD | United States | Professor at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University |
| Maria Kathia Cárdenas, MSc | Peru / United Kingdom | Research Associate at CRONICAS Center of Excelence in Chronic Disease |
| Maoyi Tian, MSc PhD | China | Vice-Dean, School of Public Health at Harbin Medical University |
| Nadina Raluca Luca, MSc PhD | Romania | Senior Lecturer / Associate Professor at University of York |
| Naomi (Dinky) Levitt, MD FCP | Africa | Emeritus Professor at University of Cape Town |
| Pablo Perel, MD MSc PhD | United Kingdom / Switzerland | Professor at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSTMH) |
| Ricardo Pérez Cuevas, MD MSc PhD | Mexico | Senior Specialist at Social Protection and Health Division of the Inter-American and Development Bank |
| Robert Marten, MPP MPH PhD | Switzerland | Researcher, Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, World Health Organization (WHO) |
| Usha Bhandari, MPH PhD | Nepal | Senior Program Officer/Technical and VocationalEducation and Training Expert – Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, SDC, Embassy of Switzerland in Nepal |
The Steering Committee
| NAME | COUNTRY | AFFILIATION(S) |
| Albertino Damasceno, MD PhD FESC FISH | Mozambique | Professor Faculty of Medicine, Eduardo MondlaneUniversity of Mozambique, Maputo, Mozambique |
| Antonio Bernabe-Ortiz, MD MSc PhD | Peru | Research Associate at CRONICAS Center of Excelence in Chronic Disease |
| Maria Lazo Porras, MD MSc PhD | Peru | Research Associate at CRONICAS Center of Excellence in Chronic Diseases |
| Praveen Devarsetty, MD PhD | India | Program Director, Primary Health Care Program at The George Institute for Global Health, Hyderabad, IndiaSenior Lecturer at University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia |
| Sanjib Kumar Sharma, MD DM FISN | Nepal | Rector and Professor at B P Koirala Institute of Health Sciences |