From rhetoric to practice: The EQUIP model for equity-focused implementation science in global health
By guest contributors Gabriela Fernando*, PhD1; Michelle Gooey*, PhD2; Callie Walsh-Bailey*, PhD3; Chisom Obiezu-Umeh, PhD3; Angela Melder, PhD6; Ahlia Griffiths, Diploma2; Ngozi Idemili-Aronu, PhD4,5; ; Haimanot Hailu, PhD2; ; Sharuna Verghis, PhD7; ; Michèle Matta, PhD8; ; Kate Ndocko, MD9; Tonia Onyeka#, MBBS4,9; Helen Skouteris#, PhD2,10
* Joint First Authors, #Joint Senior Authors
Author affiliations:
- Public Health, Monash University Indonesia
- Health and Social Care Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Australia
- Department of Medical Social Sciences and Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, USA
- IVAN Research Institute, Nigeria
- Department of Sociology/Anthropology, University of Nigeria
- Australian Centre for Health Services Innovation
- Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia
- Environment and Lifestyle Epidemiology Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer / World Health Organisation, France
- Healthcare Workforce Development Department, Rwanda Ministry of Health
- Dept. of Anaesthesia/Pain & Palliative Care Unit, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria
- Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, United Kingdom
In this period of global uncertainty, actions which explicitly and intentionally embed a more inclusive, representative and just approach to health research and practice leadership are critical. However, there is a growing disinvestment in emerging leaders from historically marginalized communities, disproportionately impacting early- and mid-career researchers from Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) and marginalised groups across the globe. The field of global health also remains restrained by colonial legacies that shape power dynamics, knowledge production, and decision-making. As highlighted by Bandara and colleagues in PLOS Global Public Health, structured initiatives intentionally designed for impacted scholars, with an emphasis on knowledge sharing, enhancing research capacity, strengthening funding and grant acquisition skills, and fostering leadership development are needed urgently.
The EQUitable Implementation Research and Practice (EQUIP) Network is a timely and necessary response to the exigent calls for transformation in global health. To counter colonial legacies which have historically shaped power dynamics, knowledge production, and decision-making in global health, the EQUIP Network fosters a global collective that not only amplifies and supports underrepresented voices but also builds capacity and nurtures leadership. Launched in October, the EQUIP Network has over 260 members representing more than 110 institutions in 27 countries.
The EQUIP Network was founded by early and mid-career practitioners, researchers, advocates, and Lived Experience Experts (also commonly referred to as consumers or community members) from diverse global regions in partnership with their mentors in response to a clear need and calls to integrate equity and decolonised perspectives in implementation science. It embodies a shared commitment to address systemic inequities while embedding justice, inclusion, and lived expertise at the heart of implementation efforts. The EQUIP Network’s overall goal is that the EQUIP network’s infrastructure, methods and model transcend dominant Western Eurocentric paradigms and create space for decolonised, community-driven knowledge production that has relevance across disciplinary boundaries. This goal is driven by a global partnership between researchers, practitioners and communities including many from LMICs and marginalised populations most impacted by inequities.
Critically, the EQUIP Network moves beyond tokenism and rhetoric, operationalising its foundational principle of equity with intention and purpose. By embracing diversity and building on members’ respective strengths, the EQUIP Network centres collaboration, co-creation and community expertise to determine process and structure, what knowledge counts, and whose needs are prioritised. By empowering early- and mid-career network members through senior, peer and cross-disciplinary mentorship, emerging leaders are supported to fill conceptual, technical, and authorship roles. Examples of how the core principle of equity is operationalised within the EQUIP Network is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. How the EQUIP Network builds equity into our practice
The EQUIP Network intends to complement and extend, rather than duplicate existing efforts. It is positioned to collaborate with other groups and organisations with shared goals and set up to overcome current limitations in building capacity for equitable implementation science. To ensure this, we conducted an environmental scan to identify existing implementation science professional networks and events. We identified implementation science-focused entities through diverse data sources, including: (a) scientific publications and white papers; (b) organizational websites; and (c) key informants. For each entity, we extracted information on name, key activities, groups and actions, mission and goals, scope, target audience, health focus areas, membership, costs, and geographic region. This process identified 59 organizations, networks, consortiums, and conferences worldwide. Capacity-building activities were generally tied to institutions (e.g., a university) or funded projects do not open to external participants. Professional societies and conferences were concentrated in high-income countries, particularly the United States, where high costs, logistical barriers, and content tailored to national contexts limited accessibility and relevance for participants and audiences from LMICs. Membership and participation largely targeted researchers and health-related professionals, with few opportunities for policymakers, community partners, or the community members they serve. Almost no organizations had a designated Lived Experience Expert leadership role on their elected board. These findings suggest that the EQUIP Network is a unique organisation which will centre marginalised voices and leverage diverse expertise; EQUIP will also strive to ensure that investments in research translate into measurable reductions in health and social care disparities for meaningful progress toward health and social care equity and justice.
As we grow, the EQUIP Network will offer a “hub-and-spoke” model, supported by an equity-centred approach, for early- and mid-career professionals. This model will provide a central hub of freely accessible collaborative resources like capacity-building workshops led by Lived Experience Experts, researcher training in community-engaged approaches, and opportunities for networking and mentoring. To foster a pipeline of empowered and well-supported early- and mid-career professionals in LMICs and resource-limited settings, “spokes” will comprise geographic and discipline-specific working groups so that the EQUIP Network’s activities and resources are relevant and accessible. This way, the EQUIP Network will support both inter-regional collaboration and intra-regional capacity building, particularly amongst populations that experience most systematic marginalisation and discrimination (those identified by gender, sexuality, Indigenous status, disability, cultural group, caste, and so forth) within low-, middle- and high-income countries. The EQUIP Network website will anchor these efforts and serve as a living platform for sharing resources, expertise, and opportunities for co-learning. Examples of activities planned for 2026 include monthly webinars, with a focus on the practicalities of equitable implementation practice and research, a mentor program and development of EQUIP Network specific resources. We welcome members from around the globe to join our community.
The EQUIP Network offers a transformative model for global health, one that is inclusive, justice-oriented, and future-focused. At a time of weakening future global health leadership, policymakers, funders, and institutions must act now to support this paradigm shift and ensure that equity is not just an aspiration, but a foundational principle.
Corresponding Authors:
Dr Gabriela Fernando, gabriela.fernando@monash.edu
Dr Michelle Gooey, michelle.gooey@monash.edu
Dr Callie Walsh-Bailey,callie.walshbailey@northwestern.edu
Professor Tonia Onyeka, tonia.onyeka@unn.edu.ng
Professor Helen Skouteris, helen.skouteris@monash.edu
Acknowledgements: Incubator funding for The EQUitable Implementation Research and Practice (EQUIP) Network from Monash University, Australia (2025 and 2026).
Note: Where authors are identified as personnel of the International Agency for Research on Cancer/World Health Organization, the authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this article and they do not necessarily represent the decisions, policy or views of the International Agency for Research on Cancer /World Health Organization
About the authors:
| Assistant Professor Gabriela Fernando is part of the foundational academic team at Monash University, Indonesia. She is a social epidemiologist focused on understanding and addressing the complex pathways that shape health equity, particularly in relation to the social and environmental determinants of health for vulnerable populations, particularly women, with a regional focus on South and Southeast Asia. She completed her PhD in Global Health and a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Gender and Health Hub of the United Nations University International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH). |
| Dr Michelle Gooey is a Public Health Physician and Research Fellow at the Health and Social Care Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University. Michelle’s research focus is childhood obesity prevention and equitable implementation, with experience in co-production and Intervention Mapping. She has experience working across diverse settings and highly values cross-disciplinary collaborations, including community members with lived experience expertise. |
| Dr Callie Walsh-Bailey, PhD, MPH is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Social Sciences and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Her research intersects implementation science, health equity, and prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. The goal of her research is to make implementation science methods and tools more accessible and relevant to community and practice users to promote partner-engaged implementation research, and to improve health outcomes of populations in resource limited settings. |
| Dr Chisom Obiezu-Umeh, PhD, MPH, is a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science and Department of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Her research focuses on enhancing the implementation and sustainability of evidence-based health innovations in low-resource settings, with an emphasis on chronic disease prevention, promoting health equity, and partnering with communities to design care that meets their needs. |
| Dr. Angela Melder is an implementation science specialist with extensive experience in healthcare improvement. She previously managed an evidence intermediary unit within a major Victorian health service, supporting the translation and application of research evidence to inform decision-making across diverse operational and strategic activities. Her research expertise in implementation processes underpins her leadership in designing, delivering, and evaluating change initiatives aimed at improving healthcare at both organizational and system levels. |
| Ahlia Griffiths is a leading advocate for embedding lived experience in health and medical research. Drawing on a Lived Experience perspective, Ahlia has contributed as Chief Investigator, co-author, and presenter, and holds a distinctive lived experience role within Monash University’s Health and Social Care Unit. In this position, Ahlia champions the integration of lived experience across all stages of research, ensuring end-user perspectives inform health policy, strategy, and review. |
Disclaimer: Views expressed by contributors are solely those of individual contributors, and not necessarily those of PLOS.
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