March 25, 2021
AVAC is excited to launch Essential Principles & Practices for GPP Compliance: Engaging stakeholders in biomedical research during the era of COVID-19, a new tool to help guide stakeholder engagement in COVID-19 research. Built from the Good Participatory Practice Guidelines for Biomedical HIV Prevention Trials (GPP), this new document responds to needs expressed by both researchers and advocates as the world watched COVID-19 research progress with unprecedented speed and urgency. Read on for details of a webinar on Thursday, April 1, to discuss its applications in the current environment.
In light of—not despite—the urgency of COVID-19 research, it is critical to engage communities and protect the study participants who make this life-saving research possible. As is the case so often in the COVID-19 pandemic, the HIV/AIDS experience provides important lessons.
AVAC and UNAIDS developed GPP in 2011 as a roadmap for stakeholder engagement throughout the research life cycle. GPP has been subsequently adapted for TB drug trials, TB vaccine research, and emerging pathogen research. This newest iteration of GPP supports researchers and advocates to apply participatory practice with considerations for the exceptional circumstances of COVID-19. It offers practical suggestions to increase the impact of stakeholder engagement while balancing the need for timely research.
To mark the launch of GPP Essentials, AVAC hosted a webinar on Thursday, April 1 at 10am ET entitled, Applying GPP Principles and Practices to the Exceptional Circumstances of COVID-19. Bartholomew Wilson from the Partnership for Research on Vaccines and Infectious Diseases in Liberia discussed his recent publication in Nature Medicine on GPP in pandemic research, which was followed by a panel discussion with Danielle Campbell (UCLA) and Miliswa Magongo (Wits RHI) highlighting diverse perspectives on the importance of GPP within COVID-research and beyond.
The webinar was recorded and is available on AVAC’s COVID-19 web page.