Eleventh EDCTP Forum Call for abstracts

The Eleventh EDCTP Forum will take place from 7-10 November 2023 in Paris, France, at the Palais des Congrès de Paris. The Forum theme is “Partnering for Global Health Research Innovation and Impact in Africa – Celebrating EDCTP: two decades and beyond”. This Forum marks the 20th Anniversary of EDCTP’s establishment.

The Forum is hosted by France – one of the founding European EDCTP Association member states – through the French Research Agency ANRS | Emerging Infectious Diseases. The Eleventh Forum is organised and supported by the second EDCTP programme (EDCTP2) and the Global Health EDCTP3 Joint Undertaking (GH EDCTP3 JU).

We expect to welcome 600 participants in Paris for the Eleventh EDCTP Forum. For participants unable to travel, a selection of the EDCTP Forum sessions taking place in Paris will be made available for online participation. The selected online sessions will be agreed upon by the Forum Programme Committee in order to provide a diverse programme of highlighted sessions. All abstracts will be available online for registered participants, with opportunities for virtual networking.

EDCTP invites submission of abstracts for oral presentations or e-poster presentations of original contributions on innovations and impact in global health research, relevant to the scope of EDCTP, and on research capacity strengthening and partnerships. Investigators working on projects supported under EDCTP2, the Global Health EDCTP3 programme, Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe are encouraged to use this opportunity to share new developments and results from their projects. We also welcome submissions from stakeholders working worldwide on health research in Africa. The deadline for abstracts is 3 May 2023 at 17:00 CEST.

Please read the information below carefully before submitting an abstract:

Abstracts

Format and eligibility
Abstracts must be submitted in English and should not exceed 300 words.

Abstracts should follow the format:

• Background
• Methods
• Results
• Conclusions.

Abstracts must not have been published or submitted for presentation to any other national or international meeting.

Submission
Abstracts must be submitted via the online system by 3 May 2023. Only abstracts submitted online by the deadline will be considered. No changes to abstracts will be accepted after the submission deadline. Detailed instructions are available in the online submission system. For questions regarding abstracts, please contact the EDCTP Forum Team (forum@edctp.org).

Evaluation procedure
All submitted abstracts will be reviewed by the Forum scientific programme committee and external experts, in collaboration with EDCTP secretariat members. Selection of abstracts will be based on the following criteria:

• Abstract quality
• Relevance to the Forum theme and to EDCTP
• Significance of the reported results.

The corresponding author will be notified of the outcome of the review by 20 June 2023.

Please note that the final decision on whether the abstract is accepted and, if so, whether it will be for an e-poster or oral presentation will be made by EDCTP and the Forum Programme Committee. It is expected that presenters will attend in person. In case an oral abstract presenter is not available in person, their presentation must be pre-recorded, and they must be available online at the time of presentation. E-poster presenters will be allocated a time slot where they will present and address questions in person at the Forum.

Presenting authors whose abstracts have been accepted will receive further instructions for presenting their abstract. This will include a requirement to provide a biography and photo, as well as giving consent for the release and publication of presentation slides, audio and/or video recordings of their presentation, live broadcast during the Forum and for subsequent use by EDCTP in Forum communication channels and EDCTP communication activities related to the Forum such as, among others, a blog, a newsletter, Twitter and/or LinkedIn, magazine articles.

Publication
EDCTP intends to publish the accepted abstracts in a Forum programme booklet and as a journal supplement. Declaration of agreement to the publication’s terms and conditions will be requested at the time of acceptance of your abstract.

Scholarships
EDCTP offers a limited number of scholarships to early and mid-career investigators with high-ranking abstracts, who have been accepted to present an abstract (oral or e-poster presentation). These scholarships support reasonable costs to attend the Forum in Paris in person (registration fee, travel, accommodation, meals, visa) and are intended for investigators with limited research funding to support their attendance. Selected recipients will be the primary authors of oral or poster presentations.

Ana Lúcia Cardoso Weinberg scholarships: Fifteen scholarships are offered to early and mid-career investigators from Portugal and Portuguese-speaking African countries (Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé e Principe and Equatorial Guinea) to present an abstract at the Forum. Applications for scholarships must be submitted at the time of abstract submission. In the online abstract submission system, you should indicate whether you wish to apply for a scholarship. Guidance on where to upload the necessary supporting documents is given (see below). Only scholarship applications and abstracts submitted online by the deadline will be considered. Multiple applications are not permitted. In the event of multiple applications by the same individual, only the latest application will be accepted.

Applications for scholarships must be accompanied by the following supporting documents, merged into a single pdf:

I) Up-to-date CV and concise summary of the applicant’s career to date

II) Motivation letter addressing the following topics:

• Future career plans and how attendance at the Forum will assist in developing the applicant’s career
• Benefit of attendance to the applicant’s institution.

III) Support letter from Head of Department. This letter must be printed on the institutional letterhead.

Selection procedure
Selection of scholarship recipients will be based on the following criteria:

• Abstract and scholarship application quality
• Relevance to the Forum theme and EDCTP
• Significance of research results
• Potential benefit of attendance to the applicant, his/her colleagues, institution, and wider community
• Geography and gender, as the Forum aims to maximise participation from across sub-Saharan Africa and to ensure gender balance.

Recipients will be notified by 20 June 2023.

Abstract application form
This page will take you through the process of submitting your abstract. Each of the tabs on the left-hand side of the page will bring up a step in the submission process that needs to be completed. At any time in the process, you can click the Save As Draft button to save your incomplete submission and return to it at a later time. Once all required sections have been completed, you can submit your abstract in the Submit section of this page.

Title
Title cannot be longer than the specified number of words (word limit: 25).

Themes and topics
The Eleventh EDCTP Forum has four broad themes:

a. Advancing biomedical innovations
b. Knowledge translation and implementation science for public health impact
c. Strengthening the research environment, research capacity and scientific leadership
d. Equitable and ethical research.

Please choose one theme/subcategory combination from the list below. The chosen theme/subcategory should be the most appropriate fit with your abstract content and will be used for programme planning.

Theme/subcategory

Advancing biomedical innovations
A1 – Advances in vaccines & neutralising antibodies development
A2 – Advances in drug development and tackling antimicrobial resistance
A3 – Advances in diagnostic development
A4- Coinfections and comorbidities

Knowledge translation and implementation science for public health impact
B1 – Implementation science and national health research systems
B2 – Maternal and child health
B3 – Climate crisis, pandemics/epidemics and health

Strengthening the research environment, research capacity and scientific leadership
C1 – Strengthening the ethics, regulatory and pharmacovigilance framework in Africa
C2 – Innovations in capacity strengthening, including digital technologies
C3 – Partnerships and alliances to enhance coordination, collaboration and cooperation

Equitable and ethical research
D1 – Ethics and human rights, including community engagement and good participatory practice in research
D2 – Advancing women in global health research
D3 – Equitable access to medical interventions

Authors and affiliations

Abstract authors
Enter the details for each author: Title, First name, Last name, Presenter (tick if yes), Position.

Author affiliation
Enter the author affiliations: Affiliation, City, State, Country.

Abstract upload

Guidelines on submitting the abstract

• Abstracts must be submitted in English;
• Abstracts must not exceed the limit of 300 words. The word limit relates only to the text of the abstract and does not include title, author names and author address;
• The abstract should only include the abstract text. Do not include the title, authors or affiliations in the abstract;
• Images, tables or graphics are not to be included in the abstract text;
• Abstracts must be free of typographical and grammatical errors, as they will be reproduced as submitted;
• Standard abbreviations may be used for common terms only. Otherwise, any abbreviation should be given in brackets after the first full use of the word. Abbreviations may be used in the title, provided the name in full is outlined in the body of the abstract;
• It is the presenting author’s responsibility to ensure the title, author and affiliation details (full name of institution, place, country) of all the authors entered in the abstract submission site are complete and correct, and exactly as they should be published on the abstract and all Forum materials;
• The submitted content must be approved by all co-authors, and by your organisation if this is required;
• The funding source for the research presented must be provided;
• For questions regarding abstracts, please contact the EDCTP Forum Team (forum@edctp.org).

Declarations
By submitting an abstract, you also confirm that you have permission from the authors to submit this abstract on their behalf and that all authors have read and approved the final version of this abstract. The content of the abstract cannot be modified after the submission deadline.

Resubmission policy

Abstracts must not have been published or submitted for presentation to any other national or international meeting. Any abstract which has been published previously can only be submitted provided that there are new methods, findings, updated information or other valid reasons that can be provided by the author.

Clinical trials

The presenting author confirms that any data or results presented in the abstract pertaining to clinical trial(s) are derived from clinical trials that have been registered.

Ethical research declaration

The presenting author confirms that the research presented in this abstract has been conducted in accordance with the protocol approved by the institutional and/or national ethics committee, and in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association. The Scientific Programme Committee may contact me to clarify ethical aspects during the abstract review.

Presentation Preference

You will be asked to indicate your presentation preference in case your abstract is accepted. Please note that the final decision on whether you are accepted for a e-poster or oral presentation will be made by EDCTP. Presenters are expected to attend in person.

Consent

If selected, the abstract presenter(s) agree to provide a biography and photo. The presenter(s) give consent for the release and publication of presentation slides, audio and/or video recordings of their presentation, live broadcast during the Forum and for subsequent use by EDCTP in Forum communication channels and EDCTP communication activities related to the Forum such as, among others, a blog, a newsletter, Twitter and/ or LinkedIn, magazine articles.