Published in News
Annual Scientific Meeting, 10 – 13 November.
The GACD community successfully held its 4th Annual Scientific Network Meeting – ASM (formerly called the Joint Technical Steering Committee – JTSC) and its 2nd Annual Implementation Science Workshop in Mexico City, with the Mexican National Institutes of Health and CONACYT serving as outstanding hosts.While this was truly a meeting of and for researchers, this was also the first year that the ASM welcomed such deep involvement from the GACD Board, with three members attending the majority of the meetings sessions.
Over the course of the week, all events were extremely well attended. Dr Brian Oldenburg took the helm once again for the workshop, the GACD’s main contribution to capacity building in the field, bringing together 59 active participants from both GACD and external projects. Overall, the meeting welcomed 110 enthusiastic researchers (a jump of 57%) for the first time bringing together teams from the Hypertension and Diabetes Programmes.
Finally, the GACD community had the honour of welcoming Carlos Moedas, the Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation from the European Commission alongside board members Dr Alain Beaudet and Dr Guillermo Ruiz-Palacios, with contributions from Dr Roger Glass, and Dr Jaime Miranda representing the researchers. This high-level panel session provided a unique opportunity to be encouraged and reassured by GACD leadership during which they articulated a shared commitment to the GACD now and into the future.
GACD ASM Poster Competition
The response to the first GACD ASM Poster Competition was extremely positive for both the entrants and those who took the time to have a look at the posters and a chat with the presenters.
The entrants were strong and the winners were extremely deserving. First-time attendee Greet Cardon from Belgium took first place for her poster on the reduction of TV time and increase in physical activity for Ecuadorian children.
Felix Limbani from South Africa, took second place for his work on task-shifting among community health workers, and Cristina García-Ulloa took the People’s Choice award for her work on a diabetes diagnostic application. The success of the poster competition was due to the interest especially from the early-career researchers and is just another way that the GACD supports the development of young research talent on implementation science around the world.
About Annual Scientific Meetings
All funded projects under the GACD umbrella are expected to attend the Annual Scientific Meeting, normally represented by 2 (or more) team members. These meetings provide a valuable opportunity for Research Network members to share experiences and learn from each other, and initiate and continue cross-project activities. The meeting is the main event in the calendar of the GACD Research Network.