New Call Issued for Research to Improve Adolescent Health in LMIC Settings

For this programme, adolescence is defined as between the ages of 10-19, although for some instances, it may be appropriate to consider issues for a wider age group. Proposals should also consider the impact of gender on the adolescent health trajectory. Areas of particular research interest include:

Research in conflict-affected and fragile states.

Road traffic and other injuries.

Prevention of interpersonal violence.

Self-harm (including suicide).

Lower respiratory tract infections such as pneumonia.

Prevention and treatment of substance use (alcohol, tobacco and other drugs).

Future NCD risk factors (raised blood pressure, raised blood glucose, obesity and smoking).

Nutrition, diet and physical activity.

Disabilities – both mental, intellectual, and physical.

The transition out of adolescence into adulthood.

The transition for those in the healthcare system to being looked after by adult services.

Research addressing social (and commercial) determinants of health.

The following research activities are eligible:

Developing interventions that explicitly address the immediate health needs of adolescent populations. Clear plans for evaluation should be included within the proposed research activities, or where justified, clearly set out as future activities.

Research to understand how to modify behaviours that start in adolescence and cause disease in later life.

Evaluating the effectiveness of interventions specifically for adolescents, including adaptation of interventions of known effectiveness in other populations.

Implementation research that addresses issues faced in making interventions of known effectiveness for health outcomes accessible to adolescent populations.

Research that explores health system barriers to effective healthcare for adolescents, including user and provider perspectives, social and economic barriers, as well as policy and governance challenges.

Capacity building activities relevant to the core intellectual agenda of the research proposal, focusing on early career researchers through to the development of institutional capacity.

Community and stakeholder engagement activities as a core part of defining the research agenda, determining how the research should be undertaken and its results translated into action.

Networking activities with researchers and other stakeholders.

Proposals to this call are accepted from Principal Investigators (PI) based in LMICs and UK research organisations. If a PI is based in the UK, there must be clear partnership with, and scientific leadership from, Co-investigators based in the LMIC where the project will take place.

Applicants should clearly identify the health issues and/or risk factors to be addressed. Proposals should describe the pathway for how the proposed approach can be scalable, and highlight any potential generalisability of findings to improve the health of adolescents in other settings. Proposals should also demonstrate how outcomes could be implemented within systems and seek to engage with related social and economic barriers within these systems. Genuine interdisciplinary collaborations across social science, biomedical science and other disciplines are encouraged.

The total available for the fourth call is £8 million, with the possibility of extra funds, dependent on quality. The minimum size for projects to be considered is £150,000 and 12 months’ duration, while larger proposals of over £1 million are also encouraged to apply. The funders envisage funding 8-12 projects, and projects should usually be up to three years with a maximum duration of five years.

Outline proposals should be submitted by the 16 July 2019 deadline.

More information about this research funding opportunity and the application process is available on the RESEARCHconnect funding information platform. RESEARCHconnect provides up-to-the minute content, insight and analysis on research funding news and policy. To find out more about how RESEARCHconnect can keep you in the know, and subscription fees, contact us today.