Global Health Respiratory Network (GHRN)
Improving respiratory health of the world's poorest through research collaborations
Introducing the GHRN
The Global Health Respiratory Network (GHRN) brings together UK-funded global respiratory research partnerships to build value through collaboration, enhance the funders' investment and meet our aim of improving respiratory health of the world’s poorest. The GHRN partners continue to meet, learn and share experiences even as many of the funded projects have completed. The Network aims are to leverage the capacities of its members to identify new ways to tackle challenges in the Global South and to improve the collective competitiveness and effectiveness of the network members. The UK-funded Global South-facing research collaborations share a focus on respiratory related illness and on capacity building and multidisciplinary research in active partnership with low and middle income country researchers.
GHRN Journal Club
In 2023 we relaunched the GHRN journal club together with the University of Edinburgh, and sessions ran in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
In 2023 and 2024 we held 6 sessions as below together with by Dr Halbesma from the University of Edinburgh. The sessions each focused on a different epidemiological study design (cross-sectional study, case-control study, cohort study, RCT, systematic review), followed by a discussion. The discussion topics were:
Session 1. Introduction to series and format, example of a) Presentation of a paper on relevant study design, followed by questions b) Presentation on the key features of the study design and how to critically appraise it
Session 2: a) Cross sectional study paper presentation b) Cross sectional overview
Session 3: a) Cohort study paper presentation b) Cohort study overview:
Session 4: a) Case control study paper presentation b) Case control study overview:
Session 5 and 6: Follow on case studies
In 2024 and 2025 we ran an academic writing skills series. This included:
Workshop 1: Grant writing: focused specifically on tips for writing successful grant applications:
- What are grant assessors looking for?
- Adapting content to the priorities and goals of the funder
- Paying attention to the specific elements of the call and being strategic in what you choose to highlight
- Making sure that you follow the instructions of the funder in terms of word count, content, etc.
Workshop 2: Writing for publication: focused on what journal editors are looking for in a publication:
- The scope of the journal
- How best to present the data - the right information in the right place
- Orientation to the audience, but broadly understandable
- General tips: the editors view
Workshop 3: Writing critically: focused on how to enhance the criticality of your writing and how to integrate your critical appraisal skills into your writing, sharing epidemiological examples, and the underlying principles for any quantitative medical writing topic
Workshop 4: Writing up implementation science: focused on the differences in writing up implementation science:
- Elements of implementation science not to be missed
- The use of frameworks in evaluating implementation science
- Making your theoretical basis clear
- Evaluating the design and the evidence for scaling up your intervention
While the series has ended, if you wish to be part of future IPCRG webinars or workshops please contact neil [at] ipcrg [dot] org
Drawing attention to Respiratory Health
The GHRN aims to address the relatively low attention levels that respiratory disorders receive, despite being responsible for one in five deaths worldwide. Asthma, for example causes 1000 deaths per day yet only half the world’s countries collect asthma data. COPD also receives the lower levels of research funding that non-communicable diseases receive, particularly in low and middle income countries. The GHRN aims to change funders' approach to both communicable and non-communicable respiratory research, working together rather than in competition with each other.
The GHRN brings those working in public health, prevention, primary, secondary and palliative care research together, looking at respiratory health through a system-wide lens to – most importantly – lead to improvements in the respiratory health of the world’s poorest people.
Continuing to benefit members and partners
The GHRN has now run for over 5 years. In this time the Network has identified gaps and opportunities in the current project activities, built data collaboration, benefited from cross-site training and agreed and acted on priorities. We have come together as one voice to look at ways of improving how projects and funds are managed and have shared a rich variety of experiences. We continue to learn from each other as we move into a new stage, with some members and partners focusing on publications and some on new projects. The impressive list of publications (see below) helps to demonstrate the value of member projects and the extent of the reserach undertaken. This list can be downloaded and also searched on in the IPCRG resource tool. A full introduction, member and priority list is laid out in the published article ‘The UK’s Global Health Respiratory Network: Improving respiratory health of the world's poorest through research collaborations’
