19th Forum – Accra, Ghana, 18-19 November 2025

Reimagining research partnerships: equity, power and resilience

WHO’s Health Ethics & Governance Unit (Switzerland), WHO Ghana Country Office and the University of Ghana

 

Supported financially by:

• Wellcome
• UK Medical Research Council
• South African Medical Research Council
• National Institutes of Health

Members of the Planning Committee for this meeting were:

• Joseph Ali, Core faculty & Associate Director for Global Programs, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, USA
• Caesar Atuire, Ethics Lead, MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine, Oxford University, UK & Associate Professor of Applied Philosophy, Department of Philosophy and Classics, University of Ghana, Ghana
• Seydou Doumbia, Lead, postgraduate training programme on implementation research, University of Sciences, Techniques & Technology of Bamako & Lead, University Clinical Research Center, Mali
• Marlyn Faure, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Oxford, UK
• Katherine Littler, Co-Head, Global Health Ethics & Governance Unit, WHO, Switzerland
• Gustavo Matta, Researcher in public health, Center for Data and Knowledge Integration for Health, Instituto Gonçalo Muniz, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil
• Devaki Nambiar, Program Director, Health Equity, The George Institute for Global Health, India
• Paul Ndebele, Assistant Director, Office of Research Excellence, the Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, USA
• Michael Parker, Director, Ethox Centre & Professor of Bioethics, University of Oxford, UK
• Carla Saenz, Regional Advisor, Bioethics, Pan American Health Organization, USA
• Sualeha Shekhani, Assistant Professor, Centre of Biomedical Ethics & Culture (CBEC), Sindh Institute of Urology & Transplantation, Pakistan
• Paulina Tindana, Associate Professor, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Ghana
• Jacintha Toohey, Lecturer, School of Law, University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa
• Rieke van der Graaf, Head, Department of Bioethics & Health Humanities, UMC Utrecht, Netherlands

Videos of the sessions will be available below and on GFBR’s YouTube channel in early 2026.

Welcome and introduction

• • Introduction to GFBR and the meeting
    Katherine Littler, World Health Organization (WHO), Switzerland

 

• • Welcome on behalf of the WHO Ghana Country Office
    Asrat Sofonias, WHO Ghana Country Office, Ghana

 

• • Welcome on behalf of the GFBR Planning Committee
    Paulina Tindana, University of Ghana, Ghana

 

• • Welcome on behalf of the University of Ghana
    Gordon Awandare, University of Ghana, Ghana

Keynote presentations

• • Caesar Atuire, University of Ghana, Ghana and Oxford University, UK (slides)
  • Devaki Nambiar, The George Institute for Global Health, India

 

Theme 1: What makes research partnerships good, and why?

• • Introduction to the theme
    Carla Saenz, Pan American Health Organization, USA (slides)

 

• • Speakers:
    • • Marlyn Faure, University of Oxford, UK (slides)
      • Chelsea Modlin, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, USA (slides)

 

Theme 2: Responsibility and accountability in health research partnerships

• • Introduction to the theme
    Rieke van der Graaf, UMC Utrecht, Netherlands (slides)

 

• • Reflecting from within: confronting institutional practices that undermine ethical research partnerships at Makerere University
    Stella Kakeeto, Makerere University School of Public Health, Uganda (paper, slides)

 

• • A participatory action research partnership aimed at minimising and managing moral distress among frontline research staff
    Sassy Molyneux, University of Oxford, UK (paper, slides)

 

Theme 3: Ethics of research partnerships in humanitarian and emergency context

• • Introduction to the theme
    Gustavo Matta, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil & Michael Parker, University of Oxford, UK

 

• • An ethically-focused critical review of Medécins Sans Frontiers’ collaborative research partnerships
    Luz Saavedra, Medecins Sans Frontières, Spain (paper, slides)

 

• • “Beyond the ToRs”: strengthening ethical research partnerships through reflection, recognition, and realism in humanitarian settings
    Viktorya Sargsyan, World Vision International, Armenia (paper, slides)

 

• • Remarks and ethical reflection on the presentations
    Michael Parker, University of Oxford, UK

 

Day 1 summary – key issues arising

• • • • Phaik Yeong Cheah, Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Thailand
      • Anna Chiumento, University of Edinburgh, UK

 

Theme 4: Economics and politics: resilience in health research partnerships

• • • • Introduction to the theme
        Jacintha Toohey, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa & Marlyn Faure, University of Oxford, UK

 

• • • • Invisible labour in global knowledge translation: ethical reflections on partnership and dependency through the Cochrane Malaysia experience
        Teguh Haryo Sasongko, International Medical University, Malaysia (paper, slides)

 

• • • • When the funding stops: what a South African case reveals about ethics, power and resilience in global health research partnerships
        Brenda Odero, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (paper, slides)

 

• • • • Ethical reflections from a research partnership to mitigate antimicrobial resistance in Vietnam: do collaborative and participatory methods address issues of equity and power in research partnerships?
        Thao Tran, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Vietnam (paper, slides)

 

Theme 5: Futures: reimagining health research partnerships 

• • • • Introduction to the theme
        Sualeha Shekhani, Centre of Biomedical Ethics and Culture, Pakistan & Joseph Ali, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, USA

 

• • • • Decoloniality as a pathway to equitable research partnerships
        Nadia Tagoe, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana (paper, slides)

 

• • • • Opportunities for funders to support equitable research partnerships
        Prakriti Shrestha, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA (paper, slides)

 

• • • • Rehearsing ethical futures: speculative scenarios for inclusive global health partnerships
        Mona Nasser (remote presentation), University of Plymouth, UK and Pamela Cajilig (panel discussion), University of the Philippines (paper, slides)

 

Pecha Kucha session

Chair: Paul Ndebele, George Washington University, USA 

 

• • • • Gotong Royong for global health: building equitable research partnerships through collective solidarity
        Ivan Meidika Kurnia, Health Policy Advisor, Indonesia and The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK (paper, slides)

 

• • • • From the margins to the centre: reimagining ethical research partnerships through nomadic maternal health practices in Somalia
        Ahmed Nur Muse, Ministry of Health Development, Somaliland (Consultant) & University of Glasgow, UK (Doctoral Researcher) (paper, slides)

 

• • • • “My PI-ship was a colony”: an LMIC investigator’s account of systemic betrayal and the need for radical grant restructuring
        Muneera Rasheed, University of Bergen, Norway (paper, slides)

 

• • • • No samples without justice: lessons from a Malaysian TB research partnership 
        Phang Kean Chang, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia (paper, slides)

 

• • • • Equity in clinical trial partnerships: a review of international research ethics guidance and guidelines
        Farirai Mutenherwa, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, USA (paper, slides)

 

Key themes arising from the meeting

Chair: Ross Upshur, University of Toronto, Canada

Panellists:

• • • • • • Marisha Wickremsinhe, Wellcome, UK
          • John Amuasi, Kumasi Center for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine, Ghana
          • Seydou Doumbia, University of Sciences, Techniques & Technology of Bamako, Mali
          • Paulina Tindana, University of Ghana, Ghana
          • Sharon Kaur, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia

 

Presentation of awards and announcement about next year’s meeting

Katherine Littler, World Health Organization, Switzerland

Paulina Tindana, University of Ghana, Ghana

 

A background paper was prepared in advance of the meeting and provides an overview of the key ethical issues raised by this important topic.

A meeting report will be available in 2026.

We are very interested to hear about participants’ post-meeting activities. Please do keep us up-to-date by emailing gfbr@who.int.