27
Jan

Southeast Asia is undergoing rapid demographic and environmental shifts. Urbanisation, ageing societies and climate change are reshaping the nature of public health threats in the region, which faces a triple burden in the form of infectious diseases, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and the health impacts of climate change. Further intra-regional integration and economic development have also resulted in a more interconnected health landscape, one in which Southeast Asian populations share increasingly similar challenges, as captured in the ASEAN Health Priorities, including: Promoting Healthy Lifestyles, Responding to Hazards and Emerging Threats, Strengthening Health Systems. To respond to these challenges, research, expertise and insights are urgently needed to advance our understanding of emerging diseases and propose innovative models of care.

However, health research itself needs to adapt in this new reality. Researchers and public health institutions can no longer afford to work within silos in their own national contexts. Instead, they need to reach out beyond borders to collaborate and innovate. New partnerships between academia and governments are also crucial to ensure research-to-policy uptake that enables evidence-based healthcare delivery and decision-making.

This session will learn from the successes of existing research partnerships in exploring the future of health research in Southeast Asia over the next 5 to 10 years and the central role that regional researchers will play in addressing Southeast Asia’s unique challenges.

After showcasing current exciting research partnerships, we will launch the first call of a new research funding programme led by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization, and supported by Wellcome and UK FCDO: Developing Research Excellence and Mentorship in Southeast Asia (SEA DREAM). SEA DREAM (https://www.sea-dream.org) is a first-of-its-kind programme that will fund Southeast Asian-led multi-country research consortia focusing on impactful health research, and developing the next generation of regional research leaders.