The EDCTP community meets biennially to share research findings, develop partnerships and collaborations, and discuss maximising the impact of EDCTP-funded research. The Eleventh EDCTP Forum took place in Paris, France, from 7-10 November 2023. The Paris meeting was the largest EDCTP Forum to date, welcoming more than 1100 in-person and virtual participants from 64 countries to the meeting.

The theme of the Eleventh Forum was ‘Partnering for Global Health Research Innovation and Impact in Africa’, reflecting the importance of global cooperation in developing innovative approaches to tackle major health challenges, including preparedness and response to disease outbreaks, public health emergencies, and strengthening health systems. The Forum also celebrated the first 20 years of EDCTP and took stock of the programme’s achievements and impact. Looking ahead, the Forum discussed the scientific priorities and challenges to be addressed under the Global Health EDCTP3 Joint Undertaking.

The scientific programme comprised keynote addresses by research leaders and policy makers from Europe and Africa in six plenary presentations. There were six symposia, 70 oral presentations in parallel sessions, and 317 onsite and virtual poster presentations. Abstracts of oral and poster presentations are published in this supplement to BMJ Global Health.

EDCTP is proud of its contribution to research and development over 20 years, supporting more than 450 clinical studies and trials in Africa, including 150 phase II and III clinical trials to develop new and improved interventions against poverty-related infectious diseases. Our investment in strengthening clinical research capacity and research leadership in Africa includes supporting more than 400 research fellows from 40 African countries.¹ EDCTP fellows (former and current) participated in a pre-conference meeting sharing experiences of building sustainable research programmes, discussing the importance of public and private partnerships, including how funding agencies can collaborate more effectively, and the role of the EDCTP Alumni Platform² in facilitating networking. More than 100 scholarships were awarded to support early and mid-career researchers from sub-Saharan Africa to present their results at the Forum. Individual and team achievements in scientific excellence and capacity strengthening were recognised through four EDCTP 2023 Prizes:

The Dr Pascoal Mocumbi Prize, in honour of the late Dr Mocumbi, was awarded to Professor Peter Kremsner, University of Tübingen, Germany, and CERMEL (Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné), Gabon.

The Outstanding Research Team Prize was awarded to the Health Research Unit in Zimbabwe (THRU-Zim) led by Professors Rashida Ferrand and Katharina Kranzer.

The Outstanding Female Scientist Prize was awarded to Professor Kogie Naidoo, Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), South Africa.

The Scientific Leadership Prize was awarded to Professor Kamija Phiri, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences and The Training and Research Unit of Excellence, Malawi.

Three poster prize winners were selected from the posters presented at the Forum, namely Tahlia Perumal (South Africa), Joseph Nelson Siewe Fodjo (Cameroon) and Jane Kahindi (Kenya).

Membership of the EDCTP Association comprises 15 European and 27 African countries, with observers from the African Union, the European Union and the World Health Organisation. Member countries were represented at the Forum, including at the ministerial level by Tunji Alausa, Minister of State, Health and Social Welfare, Nigeria and Sylvie Retailleau, Minister of Higher Education and Research (France). The importance of partnership was also demonstrated by the many stakeholders who enriched the Forum programme by organising scientific symposia, collaborative sessions and workshops.

EDCTP acknowledges the support of our sponsors Avacare Health, Botnar Research Centre for Child Health, “la Caixa” Foundation, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, ClinaPharm, Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung, Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, Good Clinical Trials Collaborative, Irish Aid, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Nuvoteq, PANTHER, PATH, Pharmalys, Pharmalys Academy of Clinical Research Excellence, Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and the UK Medical Research Council. We are most grateful to the Ministry of Higher Education and Research of France and ANRS, Emerging Infectious Diseases, France, for generous financial and logistical support as the host nation for the Eleventh Forum.

The location of the Twelfth EDCTP Forum in 2025, under the leadership of the Global Health EDCTP3 programme, was announced as Rwanda.