Building Global Research Capacity in Public Health: The Case of a Science Gateway for Physical Activity Lifelong Modelling and Simulation

摘要

Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for non-communicable disease and has a negative impact on quality of life in both high and low- and middle- income countries (LMICs). Increasing levels of physical activity is recognized as a strategic pathway to achieving the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Research can support policy makers in evaluating strategies for achieving this goal. Barriers limit the capacity of researchers in LMICs. We discuss how global research capacity might be developed in public health by supporting collaboration via Open Science approaches and technologies such as Science Gateways and Open Access Repositories. The paper reports on how we are contributing to research capacity building in Ghana using a Science Gateway for our PALMS (Physical Activity Lifelong Modelling & Simulation) agent-based micro-simulation that we developed in the UK, and how we use an Open Access Repository to share the outputs of the research.