Five programs of joint work
NEXUS builds shared infrastructure for implementation and data sciences through five priority initiatives, each delivered by international working groups spanning all WHO regions.
What we are building together
Initiatives launch in sequence as the network grows. Working groups form around each one, co-chaired by an early-career and a senior investigator, with LMIC leadership across the portfolio.
Global implementation and data science research priority-setting
A 12-month international priority-setting exercise producing the network's first Global Research Agenda, ratified by the founding General Assembly and refreshed as the field evolves. The full method is described below.
Implementation science ontology development
Implementation concepts such as determinants, strategies, mechanisms, and outcomes are described differently across studies, which blocks synthesis and machine reasoning. This initiative develops an open implementation science ontology so that knowledge can be structured, connected, and reused across contexts and languages.
Shared data standards
Common data structures, measures, and reporting standards for implementation studies, so that datasets generated in one health system can inform decisions in another, and evidence accumulates rather than fragments.
AI-enabled implementation methods
Developing and evaluating AI-enabled tools, from language models for evidence processing to machine learning for implementation monitoring, with explicit attention to algorithmic harm, data provenance, and equitable benefit across settings.
Cross-context implementation learning and evidence synthesis
Living evidence syntheses and structured cross-context comparisons that surface what works, where, and why, turning dispersed implementation experience into cumulative, transferable knowledge.
The priority-setting method
The eDelphi exercise follows published international consensus methodology, and its design commitments are public and pre-registered.
Open and rigorous
- Round 1 is open item generation, with no pre-specified domains.
- Consensus thresholds pre-specified before Round 2.
- Protocol pre-registered on OSF before Round 1.
- Anonymity protected between rounds, with a consensus workshop for high-disagreement items.
Global by design
- At least 30% of the final panel based in low- and middle-income countries.
- Panellists drawn from at least six WHO regions.
- Administered in at least four languages: English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
- Panellists may become the network's founding membership.
The exercise unfolds over the network's first year, with network-building running in parallel:
Foundations
The provisional host institution is confirmed, an advisory group is convened, and the Delphi protocol is finalized, submitted for ethics review, and pre-registered on OSF. Membership sign-up opens on this website.
Panel & Round 1
Candidate panellists are identified across six or more WHO regions, with at least 40% from low- and middle-income countries. The Round 1 survey goes live in four languages.
Founding summit: public launch
A virtual summit of Round 1 panellists doubles as the network's public launch, with the first cohort of Country Leads and Partner Leads announced.
Consensus rounds
Panellists rate priorities, review anonymised group distributions, and re-rate non-consensus items. A virtual consensus workshop resolves high-disagreement items.
General Assembly & delivery
The Global Research Agenda is ratified at the network's first General Assembly, working groups are formally commissioned, and the consensus methodology and results are submitted for publication.
Shape these initiatives from the start
Join the Delphi expert panel, register interest in a working group, or become a founding member. The agenda is set by those who show up.
Join NEXUS