Governance

The ZIKAction consortium shared some activities and governance structures with two other Zika virus consortia funded by the European Commission.

The diagram below illustrates the structure of this collaboration, including three shared work packages in green (WP6 ZIKA-COLLAB, WP7 ZIKA-SYN, and WP8 ZIKA-PREP) and cross-consortia, content-specific working groups, the first on diagnostics and pathophysiology, in red.

The three joint management structures in light blue included:

1. Communication Oversight Board (COB) with representatives from each consortium tasked with creating a Communication Harmonization Plan governing the review and approval of all external communications for all consortia,
2. Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) composed of external experts in relevant areas who advised all three consortia on project implementation and outputs, and
3. Ethics Advisory Committee (EAC) of external experts on ethical and regulatory issues who reviewed and advised on studies in animals, human tissues, pregnant women and children in all three consortia.

In addition to these shared management bodies, ZIKAction had its own governance structure, shown in the figure below.

The General Assembly (GA) was composed of the project and scientific coordinators of ZIKAction, as well as representatives from each partner with decision-making authority, and fulfilled a strategic role in the project. This body met once a year and was regularly informed on study progress by the project Steering Committee (SC). This SC, made up of all WP leads and project and scientific coordinators, coordinated project activities, taking into account input from the GA and joint SAB and EAB. Operational support was provided by the Project Management Office (PMO), a dedicated team of project managers charged with daily project operations, risk management, and coordination of administrative, contractual, and financial activities.