title: Rethinking health research capacity strengthening.
abstract: Health research capacity strengthening (HRCS) is a strategy implemented worldwide to improve the ability of developing countries to tackle the persistent and disproportionate burdens of disease they face. Drawing on a review of existing HRCS literature and our experiences over the course of an HRCS project in Vietnam, we summarise major challenges to the HRCS enterprise at the interpersonal, institutional and macro levels. While over the course of several decades of HRCS initiatives many of these challenges have been well documented, we highlight several considerations that remain underarticulated. We advance critical considerations of the HRCS enterprise by discussing (1) how the organisation of US public health funding shapes the ecology of knowledge production in low- and middle-income country contexts, (2) the barriers US researchers face to effectively collaborate in capacity strengthening for research-to-policy translation, and (3) the potential for unintentional negative consequences if HRCS efforts are not sufficiently reflexive about the limitations of dominant paradigms in public health research and intervention.
authors: Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. eev2105@columbia.edu
authors: Emily E
authors: EE
authors: Vasquez
authors: Jennifer S
authors: JS
authors: Hirsch
authors: Le Minh
authors: le M
authors: Giang
authors: Richard G
authors: RG
authors: Parker
mesh_terms: D057191:Capacity Building; D003659:Decision Making, Organizational; D003906:Developing Countries; D014943:Global Health; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D011634:Public Health; D012106:Research; D014744:Vietnam
references: Trop Med Int Health. 2011 Mar;16(3):258-62
references: 21371216
references: Am J Public Health. 2011 Aug;101(8):1410-9
references: 21680923
references: PLoS Med. 2010 Jul 06;7(7):e1000299
references: 20625547
references: Health Policy Plan. 2003 Sep;18(3):338-43
references: 12917275
references: Ann Epidemiol. 2005 Mar;15(3):228-31
references: 15723769
references: PLoS Med. 2006 Aug;3(8):e299
references: 16942394
references: Health Promot Int. 2004 Jun;19(2):247-57
references: 15128716
references: Soc Sci Med. 1992 Dec;35(11):1321-4
references: 1462171
references: AIDS. 2000 Jun;14 Suppl 1:S22-32
references: 10981471
references: Milbank Q. 2002;80(1):125-54
references: 11933791
references: Soc Sci Med. 2003 Nov;57(10):1957-67
references: 14499518
references: Public Health. 2012 Mar;126(3):217-219
references: 22341770
references: Trop Med Int Health. 2010 Apr;15(4):489-94
references: 20180932
references: AIDS. 2010 Oct;24 Suppl 4:S70-80
references: 21042055
references: Am J Public Health. 2009 Sep;99(9):1576-83
references: 19608941
references: Soc Sci Med. 2002 Jun;54(11):1699-711
references: 12113452
references: Int J Health Plann Manage. 2011 Jan-Mar;26(1):89-106
references: 20422620
references: Fukushima J Med Sci. 2010 Jun;56(1):63-70
references: 21485658
references: AIDS Educ Prev. 2002 Oct;14(5 Suppl B):92-102
references: 12413197
references: AIDS. 1996 Dec;10 Suppl 3:S27-31
references: 8970709
references: J Health Popul Nutr. 2003 Sep;21(3):288-97
references: 14717574
references: Bull World Health Organ. 2004 Oct;82(10):764-70
references: 15643798
references: Bioethics. 2008 Sep;22(8):414-22
references: 18554278
references: J Public Health Policy. 2008 Dec;29(4):383-401
references: 19079297
references: Health Res Policy Syst. 2003 Jan 13;1(1):2
references: 12646071
references: BMC Fam Pract. 2005 Oct 27;6:44
references: 16253133
references: Soc Sci Med. 1996 Sep;43(5):865-72
references: 8870150
references: BMJ. 2002 Mar 2;324(7336):499-500
references: 11872536
references: Promot Educ. 2004;11(2):93-7, 116, 134
references: 15457871
references: BMJ. 1999 Aug 14;319(7207):438-41
references: 10445930
references: PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2009;3(3):e345
references: 19333368
references: Soc Sci Med. 2008 Jan;66(1):110-6
references: 17826877
references: Soc Sci Med. 1992 Dec;35(11):1379-87
references: 1462177
references: MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1999 Apr 2;48(12):241-3
references: 10220250
references: Soc Sci Med. 2008 Sep;67(5):734-47
references: 18403077
references: Soc Sci Med. 1997 Apr;44(8):1229-38
references: 9131747
references: Scand J Public Health. 2010 Aug;38(6):670-1
references: 20529965
references: Health Policy Plan. 2004 Sep;19(5):336-45
references: 15310668
references: Glob Public Health. 2011;6(2):193-209
references: 20614360
references: Int Nurs Rev. 2007 Sep;54(3):227-33
references: 17685905
references: Health Res Policy Syst. 2008 Aug 01;6:8
references: 18673541
references: Soc Sci Med. 2006 Apr;62(8):2072-8
references: 16165261
references: BMJ. 2000 Sep 30;321(7264):827-9
references: 11009530
references: Tob Control. 2006 Jun;15 Suppl 1:i18-23
references: 16723670
references: Glob Health Promot. 2011 Jun;18(2):27-35
references: 21596937
references: J Urban Health. 2006 Jan;83(1):59-72
references: 16736355
references: EMBO Rep. 2012 May;13(5):395
references: 22473296