@Social Science Research Council’s Mercury Project Solutions Summit

My cliffs notes of the below article on my takeaways on research to promote vaccine demand:

► Vaccine Demand Promotion Requires a Multilayered Approach:
It’s not just about boosting confidence. Public health practitioners are navigating diverse strategies to address the behavioral and social drivers behind vaccination decisions—from community outreach to health communication, while working with tight budgets and staff shortages.

► “Evidence-Informed” is Not a Dirty Word:
Evidence-informed policy doesn’t mean less rigor—it means balancing research with real-world constraints like resources, politics, and urgent public health needs. Policymakers sometimes don’t have the luxury of waiting for perfect data.

► Research Needs to Deliver Tangible Value:
For research to truly help, it must address real-world problems that practitioners face daily. Whether it’s data for decision-making or practical solutions for implementation, research has to add value to health programs.

► Context Matters for Scalability and Sustainability:
Research findings are only as useful as their scalability and adaptability to the local context. Researchers need to understand and document the operational and political realities to ensure their interventions work beyond theory.

► Research & Public Health: A Clash of Priorities:
Aligning research with the immediate needs of public health programs is radical but necessary. However, funding models and academic pressures for publication often delay actionable results, creating a gap between research and practice.

► The Challenge of Reproducibility:
Research often relies on specific partnerships, slowing down the ability to scale or reproduce results across different regions. Flexible, scalable models are needed to ensure research findings can be quickly adapted to various contexts.

► Equitable Partnerships are Crucial:
International research collaborations must focus on equity, empowering local researchers and policymakers. High-income country researchers need to reflect on the power dynamics in these partnerships to ensure mutual benefit.

The bottom line:
The real success of research lies not just in publications, but in its practical impact on those delivering public health on the ground. Let’s work towards research that is adaptable, actionable, and supportive of real-world needs.