Filters
Research projects 10
Diseases have no borders. A disease anywhere in the world may become a health threat everywhere. It takes less than 36 hours for an outbreak to spread from a remote village to any major city in the world, therefore, the most effective – and cost effective – way to protect people from such health threats i.e measles, cholera and COVID-19 is to stop them before they spread to others and cross borders. Here comes the role of public health surveillance. Public health surveillance is the continuous, systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of health-related data. An effective disease surveillance system is essential to detecting disease outbreaks quickly before they spread, cost lives and become difficult to control. Digital technologies can improve the ability to both detect and respond to disease outbreaks by sharing data swiftly thus helping us to understand how and where diseases are spreading. This information is crucial for deciding what health policies and strategies to make and follow. Significance of this research is not limited to one country but it has global health dimensions. It can help to address the critical issue of global health security by evaluating the impact of digital technologies on public health surveillance. Low and middle income countries (LMICs) including Pakistan have fragile health systems therefore the risk of spreading diseases, even beyond their borders, is high. Disease surveillance system in Pakistan has largely been outdated and paper based, frequently leading to delayed detection of measles, cholera and other communicable disease outbreaks. In 2017, Ministry of Health Pakistan, with support of World Health Organization (WHO), launched Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) system which uses electronic health information system (District Health Information System – DHIS-2) as a platform for rapid and near real time reporting for selected diseases. From 2017 to 2022, the new system was implemented in 52 districts of the country while remaining 104 districts are still using paper based system. The dual existence of different reporting systems presents a unique opportunity for a comparative analysis, allowing for insights into the effectiveness of the digital transition. As a doctoral researcher, I will conduct an evaluation to address the existing knowledge gap regarding the effectiveness of transitioning from traditional paper-based disease data reporting systems to new digital systems. Specifically, my research will focus on evaluating the impact of Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) and District Health Information System 2 (DHIS-2) initiatives in Pakistan. This evaluation aims to assess the effectiveness of new electronic infectious disease surveillance system in enhancing the country's health system capabilities. I aim to conduct a comparative analysis of the performance between DHIS-2, an electronic system, and traditional paper-based systems through cross sectional study, evaluate the effectiveness of the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) framework and the District Health Information System 2 (DHIS-2) through a comprehensive assessment and explore the determinants influencing the adoption of electronic surveillance systems through a mix method study. The local research infrastructure is well-established, with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Pakistan under Ministry of Health serving as a central data hub for disease surveillance and public health information. The presence of this infrastructure is vital for the success of the research project, as it provides access to comprehensive and up-to-date data on disease surveillance, outbreaks, and response efforts across Pakistan. The NIH website hosts weekly epidemiological IDSR reports. These reports serve as a rich source of information, forming the foundation for the research and ensuring the reliability and relevance of the data collected. Furthermore, the International Doctoral Programme in Epidemiology and Public Health at Tampere University, drawing on its expertise and research strength, will help to improve the quality and depth of the research findings. Together, these elements of the research infrastructure will contribute to the robustness of the study. The research project is feasible as IDSR implementation, led by Ministry of Health Pakistan, is already in progress with support of WHO. I have five years of practical experience, as a public health expert, in disease surveillance, monitoring and evaluation with World Health Organization, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and UK Health Security Agency. My previous role as the Training Coordinator in the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) project has been very relevant. Research will be implemented in phased manner starting from kick off meetings, ethical approvals to data collection, data analysis, reporting and dissemination and finalization and publications. The results of this study may help to improve global health security by examining how well digital health information systems detect and respond to diseases quickly. In Pakistan, the findings might help strengthen the healthcare system, providing useful guidance to policy makers and contributing to practical strategies for better public health monitoring. My research is in line with the European Union's recent Global Health Strategy, which is a cornerstone of the EU's external policy. Addressing and mitigating health threats, particularly pandemics, is highlighted as a key priority within this strategy. Through my research, I aim to contribute to this overarching goal by examining the effectiveness of infectious disease surveillance systems, ultimately working towards a healthier and more resilient global community.
Team
Decision Support for the Supply of Ecosystem Services under Global Change (DecisionES) is a Marie Curie Horizon 2020 - Research and Innovation Framework Programme (2021-2025). Pressures on forest ecosystems are very likely to increase as a consequence of socioeconomic and demographic trends. A growing population will demand more products (e.g., wood) to be extracted from forest ecosystems. At the same time, these harvesting activities and their interactions with global change drivers will impact the sustainability of the supply of a wider range of non-provisioning services (e.g., wildfire protection, water, and biodiversity). The integrity of ecosystems must be safeguarded when developing harvesting activities, and yet this is further complicated by the occurrence of natural disturbances such as wildfires and droughts, etc. New decision support approaches are needed that can cope with this challenge. European and the American experiences with the development and application of decision support approaches for the provision of ecosystem services (ESs), offer a solid base for continued improvement in the efficiency and effectiveness of forest management in the context of global change (e.g., responding to changes in demographics, socioeconomics, and climatic conditions). This provided the rationale for a project that will help to strengthen research collaboration through active networking and staff exchange between 8 European organizations and 10 American organizations that are leaders in these fields. This project will build from the top-level multidisciplinary expertise (wildfire ecology and management, wildfire behaviour simulation, hydrology, process-based modelling, biodiversity, wildlife management, ecology, water services, operations research, management science, stakeholder engagement, forest ecosystem management planning methods, supply chain management methods and decision support systems) in these organizations to address the integration of operational, tactical and strategic forest ecosystem management planning levels and potentiate the supply of ecosystem services at various spatial and temporal scales.
Team
Jordi García-Gozalo
The designation of protected areas and of regions of special conservation interest has gained due relevance across the globe, particularly in the past three decades. Territories covered by protected areas are steadily expanding. Within this framework, numerous international strategies define the importance of Capacity Building and Training as the key challenge of the 21st century. The Training Masters in Ecosystem Services Management in Protected Areas (ECOSERVE) aims at developing an innovative practice-oriented MSc programme according to Bologna criteria in the field of protected areas management, and at meeting sustainable development and labour market needs through networking activities. ECOSERVE will be a qualitatively new MSc programme implemented in higher education institutions of the Russian Federation and Mongolia, strengthening their educational partnership with non-academic partners in the field of protected areas management and responding to demands for professionals of public services, private service providers and tourism businesses. It will contribute to adapt land management strategies to the actual changing natural drivers, such as climate, in alignment with global Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The program knowledge base, materials and courses in Russian, Mongolian and English, will be continuously updated and disseminated through a network of resources centres of protected areas in Partner country HEIs, promoting inter-regional cooperation in environmental protection, nature and biodiversity conservation issues, and management.
Team
Cristina Vega
LEAP4FNSSA is a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) whose main objective is to provide a tool for European and African institutions to engage in a Sustainable Partnership Platform for research and innovation on Food and Nutrition Security, and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA).
Team
LEAP-Agri is a joint Europe Africa Research and Innovation (R&I) initiative related to Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture (FNSSA). 30 partners, including 24 Ministries and Funding Agencies (Group of Funders) from 18 European and African countries decide to join their forces and funding to build an ERA-Net Cofund project with a financial support of the European Commission. The project has two pillars, (i) funding R&I projects on FNSSA, and (ii) Feeding the long-term EU- AU partnership on FNSSA.
Team
The overall goal of BIRDS is to establish a long term international network involving leading researchers in bioinformatics and information retrieval from four different continents, to strengthen the partnership through the exchange of knowledge and expertise, and to develop integrated approaches to improve current approaches in both fields. It will be implemented through staff exchanges, in addition to summer schools, workshops and conferences to facilitate knowledge sharing between members of the partnership. Research results will be disseminated to the market through a cooperation with an innovative SME software development company based in Europe.
Team
Simon J Puglisi, Susana Ladra, Luis M.S. Russo, Gillermo de Bernardo, Gonzalo Navarro, Diego Seco, Hideo Bannai, Andrew Turpin
PRE-LEAP-RE aims to contribute to identifying and formulating a strategic jointly designed Research and Innovation Agenda for renewable energy (RE) collaboration between Europe and Africa and establishing the organizational principles for its implementation in a forthcoming Joint Programme. The project will bringing together national funding agencies from EU and African States, involving key European and African actors of energy research. The key anticipated outcome of the PRE-LEAP-RE project is a European Joint Programme (EJP) in the field of RE.
Team
As of the time 14:46, March 11, 2011, Tohoku, Japan was hit by a massive earthquake. The epicentre of the earthquake was located to be undersea off the coast of Japan, and the magnitude-level was 9.0. The first earthquake also triggered a series of subsequent big earthquakes. Altogether, these earthquakes caused huge trembling on the Japanese mainland, reaching magnitude-level 7 at Kurihara City in the Miyagi prefecture, and Level 6 across many places in Tohoku. Following these huge earthquakes, those areas facing to the Pacific Ocean over the entire Tohoku area and also a northern part of Kanto areas were hit by unpredictably huge Tsunami waves of up to 40 m height. While travelling up 10 km inland, these waves caused thousands of deaths and severe damage of private and public infrastructure.
Team
Tadashi Matsumoto
The project will aim to enhance the capacity of partner HEIs to be more responsive to labour market needs and increase the capability of partner HEIs to contribute to the respective national plans and regional co-operation in energy efficiency, access and sustainability. The project will employ a “training of trainers” approach, targeting academic staff, PhD Students and administrative staff in management and finance in order to facilitate increased capacities in curricula development particularly for the BSc and MSc programmes offered by the partner HEIs. Trainings will focus on i) energy efficiency (modelling, renewable energy technical efficiency, system level efficiency) and ii) energy access (pricing in the Caribbean context and governance issues).
Team
Jyrki Luukkanen, Mika Korkeakoski, Timo Nurmi
Establish a long-term framework for communication, collaboration and coordination of programme owners/ managers related to S&T co-operation from Europe and Africa . Reinforce EU-Africa S&T collaboration by promoting joint learning by African and European research programme owners and managers and identifying relevant instruments to address more effectively the global challenges of sustainable development. Develop joint funding schemes and procedures between European and African programme owners aiming at supporting joint activities. Strengthen African research capacities and improve the impact of research for development in Africa. Strengthening the impact and the influence of S&T research implies enhancing the transfer of new knowledge to the benefit of the society. It also implies the achievement of greater coherence between research outputs and policies and funding instruments in other areas than research.