Background: Professor Otavio Berwanger and collaborators from ICTU-Global (Imperial College London’s Academic Research Organisation) are co-founding members of the Cognitum Consortium. Other world class Academic Research Organisations (AROs) complete the founding membership: Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein (Brazil), the University of Cape Town (South Africa), the Centre for Chronic Disease Control (India), and RemediumOne (Sri Lanka). Aim: The Consortium aims to build better healthcare outcomes for our communities globally by bringing together global leaders in scientific and clinical excellence to design and deliver clinical trials and studies, while fostering and nurturing international partnerships. Approach: The Consortium approach is guided by the following values: Expertise: to lead by academic and scientific excellence, augmented by industry-level best practices and efficiency Truly Global: to bring together partners with subject matter expertise to complement each othe

BackgroundOptimal crash protection requires the most appropriate restraint for a child’s size. For children <7 years, Australian law dictates the restraint type to be used. For children ≥7 years, parents can choose the restraint that best suits their child, for example using a seat belt alone, or a booster seat. However, there is confusion about when their children can safely use seat belts. This stems from the fact that optimal protection from a seat belt requires a good match between child size and geometry of both the seat belt and the vehicle seat. Yet there is a wide variation across different cars. This coupled with intrinsic variations in child size makes it difficult to provide advice using age or height. The result is that many children >7 years inappropriately use seat belts, increasing risk of injury in a crash.  Using a user-centred approach we have increased comprehension of child restraint by almost 30%. These findings indicate user involvement in developing communication too

Background Snakebite is a neglected tropical disease that affects an estimated 5 million people yearly. Previous research has focused on the acute effects of snakebite; however, snakebite survivors can experience long-term health impacts.   A scoping review conducted by our research group found that there are only 11 primary studies examining the mental health impact of snakebite globally, with depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) being the most common mental health conditions.   Despite India being one of the highest burden countries for snakebite, there have been no previous studies looking at the mental health manifestations of snakebite. Understanding snakebite survivors’ experiences with depression and PTSD can guide the development of comprehensive healthcare services to address these concerns.   Aim  The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of depression and PTSD amongst snakebite survivors in Sundarbans, India. 

BackgroundRoad traffic injuries are the 12th most common cause of death globally in 5- to 29-year-olds. Approximately 1.19 million people die and over 50 million are injured in road traffic crashes yearly. In Nepal, with the construction of roads and the increased number of vehicles in the recent decade, the number of road traffic crashes and injuries is also rising. Road traffic injuries are one of the most preventable causes of death, injury, and disability.A ‘Safe Systems’ approach, as will be adopted by the SafeTrip Nepal project, in which all agencies work together to create an environment that keeps road users safe, can significantly reduce rates of road traffic injuries.AimThe aim of this research is to reduce road deaths and injuries by bringing together stakeholders to achieve shared understanding of the system dynamics, and to agree actions.The objectives build on stakeholder priorities and community engagement, and are:To understand current policy and stakeholder involvement leading to a policy

BackgroundIn South Africa, the impact of alcohol use on trauma patients and the associated injury risks are often overlooked. The absence of routine measurements exacerbates the challenges faced by hospital trauma departments, necessitating practical, cost-effective, and accurate alcohol diagnostic tools for testing, surveillance, and clinical management. To address this gap, the Alcohol Diagnostic Validation for Injury-Related Trauma (AVIRT) study was initiated in 2023 with funding from the South African Medical Research Council.AimDetermine the type of information that will be useful for stakeholders in the trauma care and injury prevention sectors; to validate the efficacy of a selection of alcohol diagnostic tools; and to explore their feasibility for wider provincial or national implementation as a routine source of information on the alcohol-relatedness of injuries.Research MethodologyThe AVIRT study employs a comprehensive approach across three distinct work packages. Initially, Focus Group Discussions

Background:Globally, nearly 9 million injuries and ~180,000 deaths occur annually due to burns, with the majority occurring in low-and middle-income countries. Almost two-thirds of burn injuries occur in Africa and South-East Asia. Young children are disproportionally affected with under 5-year-olds in the African region having an incidence of burn deaths of over double the global rate. Burn injuries are particularly problematic in urban slum communities such as Kisenyi, where our recent work revealed an extremely high incidence (32%) of burns in children under the age of 5.Current first aid responses frequently involve home remedies such as applying cooking oil and sugar, eggs and other food materials, commercial creams, toothpaste, soap and traditional medicines including mixtures of urine, mud and cow dung. Yet best practice involves simply cooling the burn with water. Additionally, research shows carers are often reluctant to seek formal medical care – a key factor in poor outcomes for children with bur

BackgroundInjuries are a leading cause of death in children and adolescents in the 5-19 age group. Despite this they have received comparatively less public and policy attention in previous decades due to a focus on infectious diseases. Indicators are an important tool for advocacy, monitoring, policy planning and public awareness. Indicators related to injury are few and focus mostly on road safety, making it challenging for policymakers to direct their efforts and compare progress across countries.AimWe aimed to develop a more representative, detailed, and useful suite of policy-relevant indicators for childhood unintentional injuries to support and evaluate injury prevention initiatives for UNICEF, across their country offices worldwide that better represent the child and adolescent unintentional injury burden.Research MethodologyThe George Institute for Global Health used a five-step process to find and select the best ways to measure childhood injury risks. First, we did a thorough search of both publish

BackgroundDementia is a decline in thinking skills that affects our ability to conduct day-to-day activities. It is not a normal part of ageing however there is a greater risk of dementia as we age. There are currently around 472,000 people affected by dementia in Australia, which is predicted to double in the next 35 years.Studies have shown that high blood pressure increases the risk of dementia. Some studies suggest that medication to lower blood pressure might help reduce the risk of dementia but there is insufficient evidence for clear recommendations. The RECALL-Pilot trial aims to address this gap in the current body of research.AimTo encourage nationwide participation, RECALL-Pilot is trialling a new online approach to clinical trials, which will inform the future design of a larger clinical trial on dementia risk reduction.Research MethodologyThere are no face-to-face appointments in this study except for two blood tests – participants will carry out the rest of the pilot trial online from home.&nb

BackgroundThe health effects of climate change are not gender neutral, and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to the dangers posed by a warming planet. Countries with a tropical climate, such as India, are experiencing more frequent and severe heatwaves, threatening the health of mothers and their babies. Extreme heat exposure has been linked to a doubling in the risk of miscarriage, as well as a greater risk of other adverse birth outcomes, including restricted fetal growth, low birth weight, premature birth, and stillbirth.AimHeat in Pregnancy – India (HiP-India) is a multi-disciplinary project designed to understand how extreme heat leads to adverse pregnancy outcomes. Its team consists of experts across institutions in the UK and India, who will use state-of-the-art climate, imaging, and laboratory diagnostics to assess how heat exposure affects maternal, placental, fetal and lactation function.Research methodologyHiP-India involves the following activities:Monitoring heat exposure and physiolog