A structured hackathon model can effectively accelerate collaboration between academic researchers, policymakers, and public health practitioners to translate research findings into real-world solutions. According to a January 2025 hackathon organised by the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College London and the Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis at the University of Nairobi, time-bound, solution-oriented formats bring together diverse stakeholders to co-develop data-driven tools addressing identified health system challenges.
Key takeaways
- Six interdisciplinary teams developed prototype solutions across outbreak surveillance, vaccine deployment, and health workforce estimation during a five-day hackathon in Kenya
- Hackathons serve as platforms for knowledge translation, bridging the documented disconnect between researchers, policymakers, and technical experts in public health
- Structured multi-stage processes enable co-development of tools directly addressing challenges identified by national health authorities and veterinary services
Hackathon Participant and Output Summary
Six teams across Kenya’s Ministry of Health and Directorate of Veterinary Services, January 2025
Source: MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis & University of Nairobi, 2025 | GMJ News
Closing the research-to-practice gap
A persistent challenge in public health is the disconnect between academic research and policy implementation. The use of advanced analytics remains hindered by limited collaboration between researchers, policymakers, and technical experts, according to findings from the January 2025 hackathon assessment published in BMJ Global Health. Knowledge translation strategies that facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration are essential to enable real-world application of research findings.
The Bridging the Gap Hackathon, organised by the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis and the Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis at the University of Nairobi, tested whether a time-bound hackathon format could accelerate this translation. The January 2025 event convened researchers, software engineers, and policymakers to co-develop solutions to public health challenges specifically identified by Kenya’s Ministry of Health and the Directorate of Veterinary Services.
Structure, outcomes, and participant insights
Over five days, six interdisciplinary teams worked through a structured multi-stage process to develop prototype solutions across four priority areas: outbreak surveillance improvement, vaccine deployment optimisation, data quality monitoring, and health workforce estimation. The hackathon model brought together expertise from academia, software engineering, and government health systems—creating an environment designed to translate technical capacity into actionable tools addressing real policy needs.
The hackathon’s structured approach and time-bound format appear to have fostered genuine engagement between traditionally siloed stakeholders. According to the assessment in BMJ Global Health, participant experiences and project outcomes indicate that hackathons can serve as effective platforms for accelerating interdisciplinary research impact and promoting the development of solutions to public health issues. The model aligns with emerging evidence that intentional knowledge translation strategies are critical to bridging research-policy gaps in resource-limited settings.
Six interdisciplinary teams developed prototype solutions to improve outbreak surveillance, vaccine deployment, data quality monitoring, and health workforce estimation during the five-day Bridging the Gap Hackathon, with structured multi-stage processes enabling direct responsiveness to challenges identified by Kenya’s Ministry of Health and Directorate of Veterinary Services.
— MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis and Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis at University of Nairobi, BMJ Global Health, 2025
Implications for global health systems and future research translation
This hackathon model offers lessons for other health systems seeking to strengthen collaboration between researchers and policymakers. The structured format reduces traditional barriers to engagement—such as competing timelines, funding constraints, and disciplinary siloes—by creating a shared workspace with explicit common goals. For health systems across sub-Saharan Africa and other regions facing similar research-policy disconnects, the approach may accelerate the development and adoption of evidence-based tools.
Future knowledge translation initiatives may benefit from adopting similar structured, time-bound collaboration formats. The hackathon’s success in Kenya suggests that intentional design—bringing the right stakeholders together, defining concrete policy challenges upfront, and maintaining realistic development timelines—can translate research into implementable solutions. As public health increasingly relies on data analytics and modelling to address infectious disease threats, outbreak response, and vaccination campaigns, bridging the research-policy gap through mechanisms like hackathons becomes more critical. Read more about health policy initiatives and global health challenges on GMJ News.
What this means
The Bridging the Gap Hackathon in Kenya demonstrates that structured interdisciplinary collaboration can translate research into actionable public health tools. As health systems globally seek to strengthen outbreak response and improve vaccination programmes, adopting similar knowledge translation platforms may accelerate the adoption of evidence-based solutions. Future research should track implementation and impact of prototype solutions developed during hackathons to assess longer-term health system outcomes.
Source: Bridging the Gap: Hackathon as a Platform for Strengthening Collaboration Between Academia, Policy and Public Health Practice, BMJ Global Health, 2025
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