Connecting Citizens to Science

Weight loss drugs are increasingly dominating headlines, but should they instead be understood as obesity management medicines? This episode of Connecting Citizens to Science explores the growing global debate surrounding GLP-1 medicines, obesity as a complex chronic disease, and the wider implications for health systems, equity and access across different global contexts. The discussion examines...

In this second part of our two-part finale on gender justice, the focus shifts from understanding gender as a system to what it means to act on that understanding in practice. Building on Part 1, the conversation explores how to move beyond gender awareness towards more gender-responsive and gender-transformative approaches. Our guests reflect on the role of power, intersectionality and context, a...

In this first instalment of our two-part finale on gender justice, we explore the foundations needed to understand gender as a social system, one that shapes power, roles, resources and everyday experiences across different contexts. Together with our guests, we look at how gender is embedded within social, economic and institutional structures. The episode examines what gets lost when gender is t...

Tuberculosis (TB) is the world’s biggest killer among infectious diseases — and yet it’s curable. While global efforts continue to eliminate TB, the UK’s low incidence rate brings its own set of challenges: delayed diagnoses, persistent stigma, and low public awareness. This episode of Connecting Citizens to Science explores how these factors shape TB care and prevention in the UK, and what it wil...

In this fifth episode of Backlash, Resistance and the Path to Gender Justice, we explore how art and creativity can act as powerful tools for resistance, solidarity, and joy in activism. Moving beyond health into global development, this conversation looks at how artivism resists repression, engages young people, and connects struggles across borders — showing that gender justice is also imagined...

In this episode of Backlash, Resistance and the Path to Gender Justice, we explore how gender and disability rights intersect in Bangladesh. As civic and digital spaces shrink, women and gender-diverse persons with disabilities face systemic barriers that silence their voices and limit access to rights, services, and representation. We hear from two leading advocates about the structural inequalit...

We explore what allyship really means in the fight for gender justice. Co-hosted by Ishrat Jahan from the Countering Backlash, Reclaiming Gender Justice programme, the conversation unpacks how power, privilege, and positionality shape allyship, and how solidarity must move beyond tokenism to be truly transformative. Our guests reflect on allyship within health systems, across movements, and in the...

We explore how gender backlash deepens the marginalisation of sex workers in Bangladesh, affecting their access to health, justice, and basic rights. Featuring the voice of a sex worker and insights from gender justice advocates, we examine how shrinking civic space and growing stigma are putting lives at risk, and what can be done to resist. Part of our mini-series Backlash, Resistance, and the P...

*Show correction - Nay El Rahi is introduced in the episode as a journalist. While she previously worked in journalism, her current role is more accurately described as a Lebanese researcher and activist.* In this opening episode of the mini-series, we explore how moments of crisis—from economic collapse to political instability—create fertile ground for anti-feminist backlash. We hear how patriar...

In this final episode of our mini-series on research capacity strengthening, we explore how pursuing a PhD, using the PACTS programme (Patient-centred Sickle Cell Disease Management in sub-Saharan Africa), as a real-world example—can enhance, rather than compete with, clinical practice. Our guests reflect on what it means to balance research with clinical care, teaching, community outreach, and ac...

In this second episode of our mini-series on Research Capacity Strengthening (RCS), we explore what it means to widen the focus of capacity strengthening, beyond researchers and clinicians, to include media, programme managers, community leaders, teachers, caregivers, and more. Hosted on location at the PACTS Year 3 Partners Meeting, this episode shows how the PACTS programme (Patient-centred Sick...

Welcome to our new mini-series on research capacity strengthening, produced in partnership with the Centre for Capacity Research at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. In this first episode, we explore the design of a Research Capacity Strengthening (RCS) component within an implementation research project, and why it is crucial for sustainable, patient-centred healthcare. Our conversation...

Global health systems have long been shaped by Western frameworks that separate health from land, environment, and community. But for Indigenous communities worldwide, health is holistic—deeply rooted in ancestral knowledge, cultural traditions, and reciprocal relationships with nature. Yet, Indigenous ways of knowing have been overlooked and undervalued within research, policymaking, and health i...

Global health systems are built on power structures that often exclude the very voices that should be leading the conversation. Funding, publishing, and policymaking have long been dominated by high-income countries, creating systemic barriers to equity. In this episode, Dr. Shashika Bandara (McGill School of Population and Global Health), Dr. Moses Tetui (Umeå University & University of Water...

Our final episode from the Health Systems Research Symposium in Nagasaki showcases transformative ideas in global health systems research and policy. This episode features discussions on interdisciplinary capacity building, decolonising health policy research, One Health approaches, and advancing gender equity in health systems. Dr. Hanna-Tina Fischer explores innovative capacity-building models a...

Recorded live at the Eighth Global Symposium on Health Systems Research, the episode focuses on the challenges and opportunities of delivering health care in fragile and conflict-affected settings. Collaborating with researchers from the ReBUILD for Resilience consortium, we hear from three inspiring voices tackling displacement, migration, and exclusion in health care. Dr. Cynthia Maung shares in...

In this special episode, recorded live at the 8th Global Symposium on Health Systems Research (HSR2024) in Nagasaki, we explore key themes shaping the global health landscape. This episode brings together voices from the halls of HSR2024, where our host and researchers from the ReBUILD for Resilience programme have been capturing insightful conversations with experts on resilience, climate, and ju...

In this special “warm-up” episode for the Global Symposium on Health Systems Research (HSR2024) in Nagasaki, Japan, we explore the conference themes, their relevance to global health, and the critical role of resilient health systems in fragile settings. This episode offers insights for attendees and those interested in health systems worldwide, examining the intersection of conflict and crisis, c...

In this episode of Connecting Citizens to Science, we conclude our three-part miniseries on improving maternal and newborn healthcare. Host Dr. Kim Ozano and her guests explore how to sustain quality improvements in health systems and progress toward maternal and newborn Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Dr. Rael Mutai, Regional Technical Advisor for Maternal and Newborn Health at the...

Join us as we focus on how capacity strengthening in healthcare can transform maternal and newborn care outcomes, in the second episode of our three-part miniseries, "Transforming Maternal and Newborn Health". The discussion highlights the critical role of health workers, from nurses to doctors, and the importance of building skills, teamwork, and communication to improve early diagnosis and reduc...

In this first episode of our three-part miniseries, "Transforming Maternal and Newborn Health," we dive into a groundbreaking quality improvement programme that has made significant strides in integrating HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria services into antenatal and postnatal care across Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania. We explore emerging evidence on how health systems can adapt and respond to changing...

In this episode, we examine the critical role of health systems financing, especially in fragile and conflict-affected settings. Our expert guests discuss how different governance challenges, external actors, and political landscapes shape health financing. We explore strategies to make efficient use of resources and ensure essential services for vulnerable populations. (See ‘useful links’ for lin...

In this fifth episode of our six-part miniseries (see notes for 'useful links' to other episodes), we examine the intersection of migration, displacement, and health systems in fragile settings. With over 1 billion people on the move globally, including 84 million forcibly displaced, this episode addresses the challenges and opportunities that migration presents to health systems. Our co-host, Dr....

In this episode, we explore the critical role of non-state actors and informal providers in health systems within fragile settings. Our guests share insights on the legitimacy, roles and challenges of informal and non-state actors. This is the fourth episode in the six-part miniseries "Stories of Resilience: Local Lives and Health Systems," brought to you by ReBUILD for Resilience (see ‘useful lin...

In this episode, we discuss the challenges faced by the health workforce in fragile settings such as conflict zones and areas hit by political and economic crises. Our guests share their first-hand experiences and insights on how health systems and workers strive to provide care under extreme conditions. This episode is part of the six-part mini-series "Stories of Resilience: Local Lives and Healt...