Dear Colleagues,
Congratulations on a very useful e-conference. As many of you are aware the Global PPR Research Alliance (GPRA) was formed a little over two-years ago and has held two international meetings to date bringing together researchers and development actors interested in PPR. The GPRA is an informal, participant-owned network with an elected committee established by the membership that coordinates activities between meetings.
The objectives of the GPRA were established by the members at the second meeting as:
• Prioritize research within the strategic needs of the progressive control program and facilitate the implementation of prioritized research.
• Identify research opportunities, and facilitate
resource mobilization and collaborations within the Alliance
• Promote strategic and multi-disciplinary research to
better understand PPR
• Promote studies of social and economic drivers and
impact of PPR as well as the impact of PPR prevention and control tools
• Encourage the development of novel and improved tools
to support the prevention and control of PPR
• Serve as a communication and technology sharing
gateway for the global PPR research community and stakeholders
At the Second Meeting, the 60 or so participants reviewed strategic concerns and conducted extensive dialogue leading to a research map for PPR intended to support the evolving PPR strategy. For myself, I see considerable congruence between the content of the e-conference and the summary of the GPRA research map. A number of posters were presented of current interest. This material may spark even more contributions to the e-conference.
The GPRA website can be found at http://www.globalpprresearchalliance.org . The reports of the First and Second Meeting are available for download. The second report contains all the posters presented at the second meeting and the summary of the PPR research map. You can also register as a member at the site. The only criterion for membership is a solid interest in PPR at any level. Researchers and development practitioners are all welcome.
Regards,
Jeff Mariner
GPRA Co-Chair