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. 2023 Nov;8(Suppl 7):e013585.
doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2023-013585.

A Global Health Reciprocal Innovation grant programme: 5-year review with lessons learnt

Laura J Ruhl  1   2 , Jepchirchir Kiplagat  2 , Rishika O'Brien  3 , Kara Wools-Kaloustian  4   2 , Michael Scanlon  2   3 , David Plater  2   5 , Melissa R Thomas  6 , Sonak Pastakia  2   7 , Rashmi Gopal-Srivastava  8 , Nydia Morales-Soto  9 , Winstone Nyandiko  2   10 , Rachel C Vreeman  2   5 , Debra K Litzelman  3   6 , Jeremiah Laktabai  2   11
Affiliations

A Global Health Reciprocal Innovation grant programme: 5-year review with lessons learnt

Laura J Ruhl et al. BMJ Glob Health. 2023 Nov.

Abstract

Unilateral approaches to global health innovations can be transformed into cocreative, uniquely collaborative relationships between low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries (HIC), constituted as 'reciprocal innovation' (RI). Since 2018, the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI) and Indiana University (IU) Center for Global Health Equity have led a grants programme sculpted from the core elements of RI, a concept informed by a 30-year partnership started between IU (Indiana) and Moi University (Kenya), which leverages knowledge sharing, transformational learning and translational innovations to address shared health challenges. In this paper, we describe the evolution and implementation of an RI grants programme, as well as the challenges faced. We aim to share the successes of our RI engagement and encourage further funding opportunities to promote innovations grounded in the RI core elements. From the complex series of challenges encountered, three major lessons have been learnt: dedicating extensive time and resources to bring different settings together; establishing local linkages across investigators; and addressing longstanding inequities in global health research. We describe our efforts to address these challenges through educational materials and an online library of resources for RI projects. Using perspectives from RI investigators funded by this programme, we offer future directions resulting from our 5-year experience in applying this RI-focused approach. As the understanding and implementation of RI grow, global health investigators can share resources, knowledge and innovations that have the potential to significantly change the face of collaborative international research and address long-standing health inequities across diverse settings.

Keywords: Kenya.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Conceptual Framework of Indiana GHRI’s Grants Program and Partnerships. RI, reciprocal innovation.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Summary of grant submissions and awards 2019–2023.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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