Training and mentorship as a tool for building African researchers' capacity in knowledge translation.

As one of the main knowledge producers, researchers can play an important role in contributing to efforts that bridge the gap between knowledge, policy and practice. However, for researchers to play this role, they need knowledge translation (KT) capacities that many typically lack. Furthermore, research has confirmed that little is known on KT training approaches for LMICs researchers and their effectiveness.

Study protocol: analysis of regional lung health policies and stakeholders in Africa.

Background: Lung health is a critical area for research in sub-Saharan Africa. The International Multidisciplinary Programme to Address Lung Health and TB in Africa (IMPALA) is a collaborative programme that seeks to fill evidence gaps to address high-burden lung health issues in Africa. In order to generate demand for and facilitate use of IMPALA research by policy-makers and other decision-makers at the regional level, an analysis of regional lung health policies and stakeholders will be undertaken to inform a programmatic strategy for policy engagement.

Review of published evidence on knowledge translation capacity, practice and support among researchers and research institutions in low- and middle-income countries.

Background: Knowledge translation (KT) is a dynamic and iterative process that includes synthesis, dissemination, exchange and ethically sound application of knowledge to yield beneficial outcomes for society. Effective KT requires researchers to play an active role in promoting evidence uptake. This paper presents a systematised review of evidence on low- and middle-income country (LMIC) researchers' KT capacity, practice and interventions for enhancing their KT practice (support) with the aim of identifying gaps and informing future research and interventions.

Strengthening capacity to use research evidence in health sector policy-making: experience from Kenya and Malawi.

Background: Among the many barriers to evidence use in decision-making, weak capacity for evidence use has attracted a lot of focus in the last decade. The study aims to inform and enrich ongoing and future efforts to strengthen capacity for evidence use by presenting and discussing the experiences and lessons of a project implemented in Kenya and Malawi to strengthen individual and institutional capacity for evidence use within the ministries of health (MoHs).

Methods: This paper draws on the internal and external evaluations of a 3-year project funded by the United Kingdom's Department for International Development, the Strengthening Capacity to Use Research Evidence in Health Policy (SECURE Health).

Managing health research capacity strengthening consortia: a systematised review of the published literature.

Background: Locally relevant research is considered critical for advancing health and development in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Accordingly, health research capacity strengthening (HRCS) efforts have intensified, increasingly through consortia. Yet, the knowledge base for managing such consortia is not well defined.

An Assessment of Family Planning Decision Makers' and Advocates' Needs and Strategies in Three East African Countries.

Context: Despite decades of evidence-based advocacy for family planning in developing countries, research on how decision makers perceive and respond to such efforts is lacking.

Methods: A literature review yielded 10 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 1999 and 2012 on decision makers' needs for and experiences with health advocacy and evidence. Two sets of questions about family planning research and advocacy-one for decision makers and another for advocates-were developed from emerging themes and used in structured interviews with 68 key informants in Ethiopia, Kenya and Malawi.

Food safety beliefs and barriers to safe food handling among WIC program clients, Miami, Florida.

Objective: To determine beliefs about and barriers to good food safety practices among clients of a Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC Program).

Design: Five audiotaped focus groups.

Setting: A large WIC Program clinic in Miami, Florida.