Priority setting for biomedical research including Covid-19 in the northeastern part of Iran
Abstract
Background: Appropriate priority setting in public health and biomedical research is crucial to make decisions for resource allocation and prioritizing the projects. We studied the research gaps and identified priorities for biomedical research in Sab- zevar University of Medical Sciences (SabUMS), located in Sabzevar city in the northeastern part of Iran.
Materials & Methods: we used both qualitative and quantitative approaches to de- termine the public health problems and health research priorities.The processes for priority setting included preparation, problem finding, idea generation, data clean- ing and statement development, ranking, and dissemination. We used qualitative re- search and quantitative surveys for problem findings. We organized two workshops with researchers and public health authorities of Sabzevar city for idea generation, defining criteria for priority setting, and ranking of the research ideas. We used na- tional and international recommendations to prepare a list of research priorities in the region for COVID-19.
Results: The criteria for priority setting were concerns of the community, magni- tude, and urgency of the problem. In addition, feasibility, the possibility of regional and international research collaboration, and the availability of the infrastructure and capacity to conduct research were used for ranking. The final list of priority areas for research in SabUMS included non-communicable diseases, mental health, drug abuse, accidents, and nutrition respectively. COVID-19 was considered a separate area for research.
Conclusion: Experience from this study and follow-up reports would provide best practices in research development in low-resource areas and pave the way for evi- dence-based public health practice.
