ITM alumnus Ibrahim Franklyn Kamara’s article “Operational research to improve health systems in the Global South” published in Nature!
ITM alumnus Ibrahim Franklyn Kamara (OIR 2021, AIM 2023) recently published his article “Operational Research to improve health systems in the Global South” in Nature.
Ibrahim is a medical doctor, public health specialist, and researcher who works as the Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition technical officer at the World Health Organization Country Office in Sierra Leone.
In this article, the author illustrates that the Structured Operational Research Training Initiative (SORT IT) has increased operational research capacities in Sierra Leone and provides a model for Global North–Global South and Global South–Global South regional partnerships for health system planning and performance.
The SORT IT is a global partnership coordinated by TDR and implemented with partners. This training initiative was created to build operational research capacity in low- and middle-income countries, fostering collaboration between the Global South and the Global North. It supports countries and institutions to: (i) conduct operational research around their own priorities; (ii) build sustainable operational research capacity; and (iii) make evidence-informed decisions for improving programme performance. Participants conduct operational research on various topics such as multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, malaria, HIV/AIDS, Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), maternal and child health, outbreaks and emergencies, antimicrobial resistance and noncommunicable diseases.
ITM has participated in and delivered multiple SORT IT cycles, including 2 SORT IT cycles focused on NTDs in Ethiopia (SORT IT NTDs). See publications freely available at: https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/issue/view/177 https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/issue/view/204. These initiatives contribute to building a workforce that can design relevant studies, generate timely evidence, and support decision-making and performance improvements in health programmes.
Dr Kamara’s publication also reflects a broader, growing pathway for ITM alumni: building knowledge and competencies step by step, and translating them into impact where it matters most.
Through the Outbreak Investigation and Research (OIR) and the AIM course at ITM, Dr Kamara further strengthened skills in outbreak-oriented evidence generation and the implementation of practical, context-sensitive interventions, competencies that align closely with operational research and policy-relevant learning. Dr Kamara also shared his on antimicrobial resistance work as an ITM alumnus at the ECTMIH 2025 conference in Hamburg (29 September–2 October 2025) and participated to the Emerging Voices for Global Health 2024 programme in Nagasaki .
You can access the full Nature publication in the Media Centre of this platform to find out more about the study design, data collection process, findings, discussion and conclusion.
Enjoy your reading!