ZIKAction, ZIKAlliance and ZikaPLAN, the three projects funded by the European Commission under this call, shared some activities to harmonise their activities and thus maximise their impact. This included:
Protocols harmonization and data sharing
- Harmonization of protocols and standardization of tools for pregnant women and children cohort studies;
- Setting up sharing of core data between the three consortia as a proof of concept and creating a roadmap for more extensive data sharing, which has included participation in the WHO individual patient data meta-analysis
Capacity building and preparedness
University of Oxford led the creation of an online hub, REDe, aimed at knowledge sharing and supporting the establishment of a Latin-American and Caribbean network for emerging infectious diseases preparedness and response. The specific objectives pursued were:
- Establishing a regional network of excellence for research that shared knowledge, expertise and provides local support and training when and where needed
- Collaboration with regional and international networks to leverage synergies, share knowledge and identify and address regulatory bottlenecks
- Leveraging input and data from peer networks and research databases with the aim to speed up evidence generation and improve research efficiencies
- Developing a sustainability plan that will allow the network to continue beyond the funding period.
