News: Fostering Resilient Supply Chains through Research Grants

Chemonics, in partnership with the Global Health Supply Chain Summit (GHSCS) Group, is proud to launch the inaugural Global Health Supply Chain Research Challenge. Through this challenge, we will provide seed research grants of up to $10,000 to the authors of the top research submission(s).  

We are seeking proposals that evaluate and analyze the root cause of challenges in global health supply chains and pharmaceutical management in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) with the aim of producing bespoke solutions that are appropriate for the context and able to be scaled to other countries. Illustrative topics include recommendations for building resilient health supply chains, coordination models to support pooling resources for procurement and/or manufacturing of health commodities, and studying the various supply chain structures required to deliver vaccines from the manufacturer to patients.  

The Global Health Supply Chain Research Challenge is open to individuals or organizations with education or experience in health supply chains and pharmaceutical management, with at least one person being from a low- or middle-income country. The winning team(s) will be awarded up to $10,000. Multiple winners may be selected. Additional guidance on scope, eligibility, and deadlines can be found on the application site.  

Interested parties can submit proposals here by 11:59 pm GMT on September 6, 2021. Awardees will be announced at the annual Global Health Supply Chain Summit on December 9, 2021. 

Update (December 9, 2021)

The winner of the Global Health Supply Chain Research Challenge has been selected. Congratulations to a group of investigators from the Ghana Health Service’s National AIDS/STI Control Programme for being selected as the winning submission for the inaugural Global Health Supply Chain Research Challenge. Their study will assess supply chain management challenges during recent transitions in HIV management guidelines in Ghana. The research will be conducted in the next year and final results will be shared at the 2022 Global Health Supply Chain Summit.

To be selected, all 38 submissions received went through an independent review committee comprised of representatives from the Global Health Supply Chain Summit Group and Chemonics International, who co-sponsored the grant. The committee reviewed submissions against the established evaluation criteria and the top three finalists went through a rigorous panel interview to determine the winner. 

Thank you to all those who submitted proposals and we look forward to continued partnership with local stakeholders, academics, and supply chain experts around the world in 2022!