On May 12, 2022 Prof Obinna Onwujekwe gave a public lecture at the induction of fellows into the Nigeria Academy of Science. The lecture was titled, “Nexus of Science and Evidence-based Decision Making Towards a Responsive and Strong Nigerian Health System”. Prof Obinna gave practical examples of getting research into policy and practice, stating that it is an ideal every scientist should aspire to, and it is the key driver of the Health Policy Research Group, University of Nigeria. Emphasis was laid on utilizing non-academic means to communicate research, such as blogs, policy briefs, podcasts, filming, etc., as they attain wider reach and appeal more to policymakers and the wider public than the technically written scientific publications. He went ahead to discuss stakeholders’ identification, engagement, relationship building, and the real-life value that is brought to research by the Outcome Mapping strategy. The public lecture was received well by fellows and other attendees, as they were challenged to ensure that they move quality studies away from the papers and shelves into policies and programmes that will benefit society.
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