Scoping review protocol on research prioritisation for preparedness and response to outbreaks of high consequence pathogens

Emilia Antonio; Dorothy Chepkirui; Shanthi Levanita; Susan Khader Ibrahim; Isabel Foster; Eli Harriss; Louise Sigfrid; Alice Norton

doi:10.12688/openreseurope.15335.1

Scoping review protocol on research prioritisation for preparedness and response to outbreaks of high consequence pathogens

Open Res Eur. 2024 Apr 29:3:16. doi: 10.12688/openreseurope.15335.1. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Emilia Antonio¹, Dorothy Chepkirui¹, Shanthi Levanita¹, Susan Khader Ibrahim¹, Isabel Foster¹, Eli Harriss², Louise Sigfrid¹, Alice Norton¹

Affiliations

¹ Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness (GloPID-R) Research and Policy Team, Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Pandemic Sciences Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
² Bodleian Health Care Libraries, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK.

Abstract

Background: Prioritisation of research activities for infectious disease pathogens is usually undertaken through the identification of important research and knowledge gaps. Research prioritisation is an essential element of both effective responses to disease outbreaks and adequate preparedness. There is however currently no published mapping of activities on and evidence from research prioritisation for high consequence pathogens. The objectives of this review are to map all published research prioritisation exercises on high-consequence pathogens; provide an overview of methodologies employed for prioritising research for these pathogens; describe monitoring and evaluation processes for research areas prioritised; and identify any standards and guidance for effectively undertaking research prioritisation activities for high consequence pathogens.

Methods: The Joanna Briggs Institute guidance of scoping review conduct will be used. The search will be undertaken using the key terms of "research prioritisation", "response", "control", and related terms, and a list of high-consequence pathogens derived from WHO (2020), EMERGE (2019), Europe CDC (2022) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (2021). We will search WHO Global Index Medicus; Ovid Medline; Ovid Embase; Ovid Global Health; and Scopus. Backward citations review of the included full text documents will also be conducted. Google Scholar and Overton will be searched for grey literature. Two independent reviewers will screen the retrieved documents using Rayyan and extract data in a data extraction template in Microsoft Excel 2021. Screening results will be presented using the PRISMA-ScR template with narrative synthesis undertaken for the extracted data.

Conclusion: This review will map existing research priorities for high consequence pathogens. Further, it will provide an understanding of methodologies used for prioritisation, processes for monitoring and evaluation of progress made against research agendas, and evidence on standards that could be recommended for effective prioritisation of research for high consequence pathogens.

Keywords: High consequence pathogens; Preparedness; Priority pathogens; Research prioritisation; Response.

Associated data

figshare/10.6084/m9.figshare.21739544

Grants and funding

This research was financially supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the grant agreement No 874667 (GloPID-R).