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Joining academia and consultancy aims at
contributing to the development of effective
social protection policies by combining aca-
demic excellence with state-of-the-art global
practice. Within the framework of such part-
nership, group members actively contribute
to project development, offering training and
consulting services across their range of core
competencies. At the same time, colleagues
from evaplan have the opportunity to contri-
bute their practical knowledge to the teach-
ing and research activities of the group.
Current projects
The potential of microfinance institutions to
advance progress towards universal health
coverage through micro health insurance:
A mixed methods study in Malawi
Funded by the DFG (German Research Socie-
ty) 2011 to 2013
Principal investigator (PI): Manuela De Allegri
Agenda - setting criteria for the abolition of
user fees health policies in West Africa
Funded by the Canadian Health Research
Institute 2011 to 2012
Co-investigator: Manuela De Allegri
Assessing the impact of using performance-
based financing to improve the quality of
obstetric and neonatal care in Malawi
Funded by TRAction (United States Agency
for International Development, USAID) an
the Norwegian Government 2012 to 2014
PI: Manuela De Allegri
An integrated surveillance system for
infectious disease in rural China: genera-
ting evidence for early detection of disease
outbreaks in resource-poor settings (ISSC)
Funded by the European Union FP7 Program
2010-2013
Co-investigator: Hengjin Dong
Innovative tools and strategies for surveil-
lance and control of dengue
Funded by the European Union FP7 Program
2011-2015
Co-investigator: Yesim Tozan
Perspectives of the group
The group is currently working to expand its
work in Asia, mostly in collaboration with
two institutions bound to HIPH by a memo-
randum of understanding: James P Grant
BRAC School of Public Health in Bangladesh
and Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China.
In addition, the group is currently part of
a recently established network, co-funded
among others by DFG and ESRC, which
gathers researchers from the University of
Heidelberg, from the University of Edin-
burgh, and from Jawaharlal Nehru University
and from Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for
Medical Sciences and Technology in India to
foster discussion and research development
on the topics of transcultural health, Asian
medicine, innovations in medicine, and
non-communicable diseases.
At the same time, the group is looking into
strengthening its presence in Africa. In parti-
cular, the group has set up collaboration
with colleagues from the University of Mont-
real to join forces in the evaluation of health
financing reforms in West Africa. In addition,
building on the recognition that health is
central to economic development, the group
has engaged in cooperation with develop-
ment economists both at the University of
Passau and at the University of Mannheim
to explore the link between health inter-
ventions and economic development. The
group currently further intensifies its recent
cooperation with research partners in
Malawi, particularly the College of Medicine
of the University of Malawi and the Research
for Equity and Community Health Trust
(REACH Trust).
Last but not least, the near future will see
the group progressively more engaged in
"exporting" its mixed-methods approach to
the study of the economics of global health.
Training in mixed-methods will take place
both through formal teaching abroad and
through direct mentoring of junior resear-
chers with the aim of establishing capacity
to replicate the unique course currently on
offer at HIPH in a number of other settings.