The Health Research Alliance in 2018 was able to make meaningful strides toward accelerating the translation of biomedical science into applications that improve health, Representing the interests of 79 nonprofit health research funders, we focused our work on four things:
- Fostering open communication and collaboration among and between funders and the broader research community. These channels come alive at our Members Meetings, and strengthened through webinars and candid listserv discussions. And, the connections we’ve developed alongside institutions like the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, and Council on Government Relations are testaments to our expanded role in the biomedical ecosystem.
- Collecting and sharing comprehensive data and analysis about nonprofit funding for biomedical research and training. With the launch of HRA Reporter and HRA Open, we are now able to provide data-driven analysis enabling members to better understand the impact of their grantmaking practices.
- Providing leadership, knowledge, tools, and opportunities to promote innovative and effective grantmaking. From the timely panel discussions at Members Meetings to practical webinar presentations, we were able to connect members to the information, ideas, individuals and organizations paving the path to progress.
- Addressing issues key to accelerating research discovery and its translation. Our working groups dive deep into issues that impact our members, and develop recommendations, identify resources, or facilitate discussion about what’s next.
It has been a remarkable year focused on strengthening our programmatic offering to members, while also serving as a thought leader representing members’ stances to the broader biomedical research community on issues such as funder-academia partnership, data sharing, and open science.
We have highlighted some of the notable events that have allowed us to facilitate collaboration, knowledge sharing, and candid discussion. We hope you have found these moments valuable. We thank you for trusting us and we look forward to an even more productive 2019.
Sincerely,
Maryrose Franko
