RESPIRE among 10 new NIHR Global Health Research Units announced

10 new NIHR Global Health Research Units receive funding to improve health outcomes for people in LMICs

Ten new National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Global Health Research Units have been awarded funding under the programme’s second call to deliver high-quality applied global health research and training in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) over the next five years. The awards are funded through Official Development Assistance (ODA) from the UK aid budget. One of the new grants has been awarded to RESPIRE.

NIHR Global Health Research Units

The Global Health Research Units scheme funds large-scale, ambitious programmes of applied health research that will address locally-identified challenges through equitable partnerships between researchers and institutions in the UK and those in LMICs.

The Global Health Research Units programme provides funding to support not only delivery of research that will improve health outcomes for people living in LMICs, but also to strengthen crucial research capability and capacity in resource-poor settings, in particular training and capacity building in both academic research and programme support functions.

The successful applicants were selected by an independent funding committee in 2021 following open competition. The new cohort of Units will build on the success of the previous phase of the programme, which ran from 2016 to 2021. Each of the Units will receive up to £7m over the next five years - 2022 to 2027.

The programme will meet NIHR’s strategic priorities for Global Health Research, to:

  • address the shifting global burden of disease,
  • develop health systems to identify and respond to population needs,
  • build resilience to tackle future global health threats, and
  • strengthen research capacity in LMICs through equitable partnerships between LMIC and UK researchers.

Beyond RESPIRE, the other 9 NIHR Global Health Research Units awarded funding are as follows:

  • NIHR Global Health Research Unit on CLEAN-Air (Africa)
  • NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Diabetes and Cardiovascular disease in South Asia
  • NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Genomics and enabling data for surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance
  • NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery: Establishing a Sustainable Network of Surgical Research
  • NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Health financing for Universal Health Coverage
  • NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Neglected Tropical Diseases
  • NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Neurodevelopment and Autism in South Asia
  • NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Social and Environmental Determinants of Health Inequalities
  • NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Stillbirths and neonatal deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia

More details of these awards can be found on the NIHR Funding and Awards website.