TY - JOUR T1 - Engaging local health research communities to enhance long-term capacity building in Brazil JF - BMJ Global Health JO - BMJ Global Health DO - 10.1136/bmjgh-2021-007131 VL - 6 IS - 10 SP - e007131 AU - Luiza Helena Madia Lourenço AU - Bonny Louise Baker AU - Antonio Gregorio Dias Junior AU - Nina E Jamieson AU - Roque Pacheco de Almeida AU - Ricardo Queiroz Gurgel AU - Cristiane Campello Bresani Salvi AU - Clécio Gabriel de Souza AU - Egmar Longo AU - Bruno Gomes AU - Mariana Rocha David AU - Márcio Galvão Pavan AU - Daniele Pereira de Castro AU - Mauricio Lacerda Nogueira AU - Trudie Lang Y1 - 2021/10/01 UR - http://gh.bmj.com/content/6/10/e007131.abstract N2 - The ‘2019 Research Capacity Network (REDe) workshop series’ was an initiative led by Brazil-based REDe coordinators and The Global Health Network (TGHN) in partnership with Brazilian researchers interested in arboviruses. This workshop initiative has provided crucial training to the local research community offering transferable skills to effectively respond to health emergencies, with an impact beyond arboviral diseases, as evidenced by further activities undertaken during the COVID-19 pandemic. The success of this approach resulted from several factors, especially the workshops’ local leadership and the combination of in-person training with online sharing of the resources generated in the local language. Analytics data from REDe online platform evidenced the wider reach of the shared resources to a larger audience than the workshop attendees. Importantly, the impact of this approach extends beyond the workshop series per se, with workshop participants afforded access to wider training, career development and collaborative opportunities through REDe and TGHN platforms. In addition, this initiative design resulted in the development of new collaborations between the workshop leaders and other local researchers, who have been jointly writing research projects and applying for grants. As a result, REDe has become a highly dynamic community of practice for health researchers in the region, strengthening the research culture and improving connectivity. Here, we describe the design and implementation of this initiative and demonstrate the value of integrating local expertise, and a practical workshop series format with digital dissemination of research resources and training materials to generate a vibrant and robust community of practice.Data sharing not applicable as no datasets generated and/or analysed for this study. ER -