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Confronting the global non-communicable diseases (NCDs) crisis requires a critical mass of scientists who are well versed in regional health problems and understand the cultural, social, economic, and political contexts that influence the effectiveness of interventions. Investments in global NCD research must be accompanied by contributions to local research capacity. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Fogarty International Center have a long-standing commitment to supporting research capacity building and addressing the growing burden of NCDs in low- and middle-income countries. One program in particular, the NIH International Tobacco and Health Research and Capacity Building Program (TOBAC program), offers an important model for conducting research and building research capacity simultaneously. This article describes the lessons learned from this unique funding model and demonstrates how a relatively modest investment can make important contributions to scientific evidence and capacity building that could inform ongoing and future efforts to tackle the global burden of NCDs.

Progress has been made in the development and widespread implementation of effective interventions to address childhood obesity, yet important challenges remain. To understand how the United States and Latin American countries achieved success in implementing obesity policies and programs (PAPs) and identify improvement opportunities using implementation science principles. We identified three comparative case studies: (1) front‐of‐food package labeling (Mexico and Chile); (2) Open Streets/play streets (Colombia and the United States); and (3) the Baby‐Friendly Hospital Initiative (Brazil and the United States). Information from multiple sources (e.g., scientific and gray literature and key informant interviews) was synthesized to describe barriers, facilitators, and progress of PAPs across RE‐AIM framework dimensions. Evidence‐based advocacy along with political will and evidence of scalability and impact were key for successful launch and implementation of all PAPs. Diverse adaptations of PAP design and implementation had to be done across contexts. Stronger process and impact monitoring and evaluation systems that track equity indicators are needed to maximize the population benefits of these PAPs. Implementation science offers an important contribution toward addressing knowledge gaps, enhancing obesity policy dialogue, and producing transferable lessons across the Americas and, therefore, should be used for research and evaluation during PAP development and throughout the implementation and maintenance phases.

Progress has been made in the development and widespread implementation of effective interventions to address childhood obesity, yet important challenges remain. To understand how the United States and Latin American countries achieved success in implementing obesity policies and programs (PAPs) and identify improvement opportunities using implementation science principles. We identified three comparative case studies: (1) front-of-food package labeling (Mexico and Chile); (2) Open Streets/play streets (Colombia and the United States); and (3) the Baby- Friendly Hospital Initiative (Brazil and the United States). Information from multiple sources (e.g., scientific and gray literature and key informant interviews) was synthesized to describe barriers, facilitators, and progress of PAPs across RE-AIM framework dimensions. Evidence-based advocacy along with political will and evidence of scalability and impact were key for successful launch and implementation of all PAPs. Diverse adaptations of PAP design and implementation had to be done across contexts. Stronger process and impact monitoring and evaluation systems that track equity indicators are needed to maximize the population benefits of these PAPs. Implementation science offers an important contribution toward addressing knowledge gaps, enhancing obesity policy dialogue, and producing transferable lessons across the Americas and, therefore, should be used for research and evaluation during PAP development and throughout the implementation and maintenance phases. ; United States Department of Health & Human Services National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA NIH National Heart Lung & Blood Institute (NHLBI) K12HL138037 United States Department of Health & Human Services Centers for Disease Control & Prevention - USA 5 U48DP006380-02-00 ; Versión publicada - versión final del editor

AbstractIntroductionHIV continues to devastate the adolescent population in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA). The complex array of interpersonal, social, structural and system‐level obstacles specific to adolescents have slowed progress in prevention and treatment of HIV in this population. The field of implementation science holds promise for addressing these challenges.DiscussionThere is growing consensus that enhanced interactions between researchers and users of scientific evidence are important and necessary to tackle enduring barriers to implementation. In 2017, the Fogarty International Center launched the Adolescent HIV Prevention and Treatment Implementation Science Alliance (AHISA) to promote communication and catalyse collaboration among implementation scientists and implementers to enhance the cross‐fertilization of insights as research advances and the implementation environment evolves. This network has identified key implementation science questions for adolescent HIV, assessed how members' research is addressing them, and is currently conducting a concept mapping exercise to more systematically identify implementation research priorities. In addition, AHSA pinpointed common challenges to addressing these questions and discussed their collective capacity to conduct implementation science using the shared learning approach of the network. Specifically, AHISA addresses challenges related to capacity building, developing mentorship, engaging stakeholders, and involving adolescents through support for training efforts and funding region‐/country‐specific networks that respond to local issues and increase implementation science capacity across SSA.ConclusionsInnovative platforms, like AHISA, that foster collaborations between implementation science researchers, policymakers and community participants to prioritizes research needs and identify and address implementation challenges can speed the translation of effective HIV interventions to benefit adolescent health.

The global HIV response is leaving children and adolescents behind. Because of a paucity of studies on treatment and care models for these age groups, there are gaps in our understanding of how best to implement services to improve their health outcomes. Without this evidence, policymakers are left to extrapolate from adult studies, which may not be appropriate, and can lead to inefficiencies in service delivery, hampered uptake, and ineffective mechanisms to support optimal outcomes. Implementation science research seeks to investigate how interventions known to be efficacious in study settings are, or are not, routinely implemented within real-world programmes. Effective implementation science research must be a collaborative effort between government, funding agencies, investigators, and implementers, each playing a key role. Successful implementation science research in children and adolescents requires clearer policies about age of consent for services and research that conform to ethical standards but allow for rational modifications. Implementation research in these age groups also necessitates age-appropriate consultation and engagement of children, adolescents, and their caregivers. Finally, resource, systems, technology, and training must be prioritized to improve the availability and quality of age-/sex-disaggregated data. Implementation science has a clear role to play in facilitating understanding of how the multiple complex barriers to HIV services for children and adolescents prevent effective interventions from reaching more children and adolescents living with HIV, and is well positioned to redress gaps in the HIV response for these age groups. This is truer now more than ever, with urgent and ambitious 2020 global targets on the horizon and insufficient progress in these age groups to date.