Operational Research Workshops
Regularly, the LRI organises an Operational Research workshop. The goal of these workshops is to increase the quality of operational research proposals through capacity strengthening workshops, aimed at teaching research methods, including proposal writing, with additional mentoring during the implementation phase.
Thus far, the workshops have been organised in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia (2017); Kathmandu, Nepal (2018), Nairobi, Kenya (2019) and Kathmandu, Nepal (2022).
Scientific Writing Workshop (2023)
In April 2023, fifteen early career researchers from nine leprosy-endemic countries gathered in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, for an intensive scientific writing workshop. The workshop aimed to equip participants with the skills and knowledge needed to write effective scientific manuscripts. Before the in-person session, participants completed an e-course on dissemination of findings from research projects. This online training laid the groundwork for their manuscripts, setting the stage for focused work during the workshop.
Throughout the four-day event, participants received guidance from experienced mentors from across the LRI Partner organisations and engaged in structured sessions to advance their writing. The culmination of their efforts was showcased during presentations on the final day, where significant progress was evident in both manuscript development and writing skills.
Data Analysis Workshop (2022)
In 2022, LRI conducted a workshop on data analysis aiming to train small teams of researchers in quantitative data analysis knowledge and skills. The workshop was organised in-person in Kathmandu, Nepal, from 7-12 September, adjacent to the NTD NGO Network (NNN) Conference. A total of 23 researchers based at institutions in six leprosy-endemic countries (Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nepal and Nigeria) participated in the workshop, supported by a diverse group of tutors/mentors.
The workshop was a combination of presentations and practical exercises, using datasets from the participants’ own research projects. During the workshop, a broad scope of topics were covered from creating a data analysis plan and importing data, to different analyses and data visualisation. The workshop concluded with research teams giving a presentation on analysis performed on their LRI-funded project data.
PEP workshop (2019)
Together with NLR and the Global Partnership for Zero Leprosy (GPZL), the LRI hosted a 4-day workshop in Amsterdam, 5-8 Nov, 2019, to discuss issues related to post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). Damien Foundation and TLM International co-financed the workshop.
For this workshop, researchers and programmatic partners came together to work out common country packages for SDR-PEP implementation and to develop proposal outlines to advance PEP research. The workshop was composed of two distinctive groups, one focusing on research and one on operations. The operations group developed three specific country profile packages:
(1) SDR-PEP start-up; (2) SDR-PEP scale-up; and (3) SDR-PEP last-mile. These profiles will help countries with preparing, implementing and evaluating SDR-PEP into their national programmes.
The research working group initially focused on the four topics in the context of PEP:
(1) PEP targeting and delivery; (2) New regimen; (3) Mapping; (4) Modelling and Investment Case. Concrete ideas related to PEP targeting and delivery will be further developed in 2020.
This was the first workshop of its kind organized by GPZL, LRI and NLR. Lessons from this workshop will help organise future workshops.