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Texas Children's Global Health 27th Texas Children’s Global Health Network Meeting

<p>27<sup>th</sup> Texas Children’s Global Health Network Meeting</p>

“Bridging the Gap: 
Innovative Pathways to Health Equity” 

9–13 November 2026  
Johannesburg, South Africa  
aha-Kopanong Hotel and Conference Centre

Innovating for Global Health Equity!

The 27th Global Health Network Meeting, hosted by Baylor Foundation Uganda, will convene global health professionals from across our Network under the theme “Bridging the Gap: Innovative Pathways to Health Equity.” This meeting aims to foster collaboration, share impactful research and programmatic innovations, and advance solutions that strengthen health systems and improve equitable access to care across diverse settings.

Abstract Coaching & Submission

Submit abstracts showcasing research, innovation, and program impact across the Network. Topics include health systems, primary care integration, global health security, and quality improvement. Selected work will be featured in plenary-linked sessions, oral presentations, and posters at the 27th Global Health Network Meeting in Johannesburg.

Key Dates and Timeline

Date*

Milestone

TBD May

Workshop: Writing Compelling Abstracts for NWM 2026 and Submission Guidelines

18 May

Deadline: Author request for abstract coaching

22 June

Deadline: Abstract submission

26 August

Foundations are notified of accepted abstracts

21 September

Deadline to request for poster and oral presentation coaching

28 October

Deadline: Authors submit posters  

28 October

Deadline: Authors submit oral abstract presentations

28 October

Session Speaker Presentations Due

28 October

Deadline: Confirm Poster presenters

9 – 13 November

In-person Network Meeting

*Dates are provisional and subject to change.

About the Conference

The 27th Global Health Network Meeting builds on prior meetings and introduces a dynamic structure pairing oral abstract presentations with plenary and panel discussions. These curated sessions are designed to connect global evidence with real-world implementation, fostering deeper dialogue and shared learning across the Network.     

The program will feature workshops, panels, and research presentations across key thematic areas, including sustainable health systems, integrated primary care, global health security, and quality improvement innovations. Participants will explore practical, scalable strategies to address evolving global health challenges.

Also new this year at the Network Meeting, the 27th Global Health Network Meeting will feature a structured implementation science skills building series woven throughout the agenda. These sessions are designed to provide participants with practical tools to translate evidence, innovations, and lessons learned into effective, scalable, and sustainable practice across diverse global contexts. Abstracts are encouraged that reflect real-world implementation challenges, adaptive solutions, and learning from both successes and failures.     

Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with colleagues, exchange knowledge, and help shape the future of global health, reinforcing the power of partnership and collective action in advancing health equity worldwide.  

Conference Objectives

  • Foster Collaboration and Partnership: Create a platform for network foundations and program teams to connect, share best practices, and build sustainable partnerships that extend beyond the meeting.  
  • Strengthen Shared Learning and Knowledge Exchange: Promote the dissemination of research, program outcomes, and evidence-based practices to enhance collective understanding and inform global health policy and implementation.  
  • Build Community and Trust Across the Network: Encourage meaningful engagement through formal and informal interactions that strengthen relationships, break down silos, and foster a unified network culture grounded in trust and respect.  
  • Enhance Capacity and Leadership in Global Health: Support the development of skills and leadership needed to drive innovation, scale programs, and lead impactful global health initiatives across diverse settings.  
  • Accelerate Impact Through Collective Action: Align stakeholders around shared priorities to translate knowledge into action, advancing sustainable solutions to key global health challenges. 

Target Audience

This activity is a closed conference for staff of the Texas Children’s Global Health Network, Baylor College of Medicine Global Health, and its 9 Baylor Foundation implementing partners, focusing on expanding care in HIV, tuberculosis, malnutrition, maternal health, and more. It reflects our commitment as a leading provider of pediatric HIV care and broadened healthcare services.

About Texas Children’s® Global Health Network

The Texas Children’s Global Health Network, in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine Global Health, works in partnership with a network of local foundations across various regions, including Botswana, Colombia, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Romania, Tanzania, and Uganda. These foundations implement locally driven global health programs and spearhead technical assistance and capacity-building to strengthen healthcare delivery, improve outcomes, and build sustainable health systems and communities.

About Baylor Foundation Uganda

Baylor Foundation Uganda is a nationally recognized NGO established in 2006 and one of Uganda’s largest pediatric and adolescent HIV programs. It delivers integrated services across HIV, RMNCAH, TB, NCDs, and global health security. Operating from its Center of Excellence in Kampala and across 47 districts, it partners with government to strengthen health systems, expand access, and improve care quality. Through research, training, and community programs, Baylor Foundation Uganda advances sustainable, high-impact health outcomes nationwide.

Resources

Below, you will find information on the following topics: abstract submission, an explanation of this year's abstract thematic categories, templates & guidance, and frequently asked questions (FAQs).

Option 1: Scientific Research Abstracts – aligns with all Themes

Suited for research conducted in all disciplines. These abstracts should contain the following sections:

  • Background: Indicate the purpose and objective of the research, the gap being filled, and the objective/aim of the study.  
  • Methods: Describe the study period, setting and location, study design, study population, data collection and methods of analysis used. 
  • Results: Present as clearly and in as much detail as possible the findings and/or outcomes of the study. 
  • Conclusions: Explain the significance of your findings and/or outcomes of the study for treatment, care and/or support, and future implications of the results.

Option 2: Quality Improvement Abstracts – aligns with Themes 2 and 4

Suited for sharing projects that present approaches to assess and improve professional practice performance using QI methodology. These abstracts should contain the following sections:

  • Purpose: Brief summary of current knowledge about the care problem, what is the local issue, intended improvement, aim statement.
  • Methods: Setting, planning the intervention and implementation (including team formation), measures and evaluation (how you will collect and analyze data, how you will validate and test reliability of data)
  • Results: Characterize aspects of the setting that may impact results (such as resources, staffing, organizational culture). Describe what happened (sequence of events, number of participants at key points), success of implementation, and how the intervention and implementation evolved. Describe how the setting impacted
  • Discussion: Summarize findings, particularly strengths, compare to findings of others, limitations, next steps

Option 3: Program Description Abstracts – aligns with Themes 1-3

Suited for sharing innovative programs, activities, or projects, and the lessons learned from them.  These abstracts should contain the following sections:

  • Background: Summarize the purpose, scope, and objectives of the program/activity.  
  • Description: Describe the program, activity, or project, the setting, location, structure, key populations served, and details of activities/interventions implemented. 
  • Lessons learned: Present as clearly and in as much detail as possible the findings and/or outcomes of the program, activity, or project.  Include analyses or evaluations of lessons learned and best practices.  Summarize any specific findings that support your lessons learned and best practices. 
  • Next Steps: Explain the significance of your findings and/or outcomes of the program, activity, project towards strengthening care.  Describe future directions of the efforts.

Authors are invited to submit scientific research, programmatic description (including lessons learned), or quality improvement abstracts in the following thematic categories:   

Theme 1: Advancing Self Reliance through Sustainable and Innovative Health Systems  

This track highlights clinical, programmatic, and financing innovations that improve efficiency, resilience, and sustainability of health systems—such as differentiated service delivery models, task shifting, community-owned approaches, innovative financing mechanisms, and strategies to navigate funding disruptions while maintaining equitable, high-quality access to care.     

Theme 2: Integrating priority health services into Primary Health Care to advance outcomes  

This track focuses on experiences integrating priority disease and population health services into primary health care platforms to improve access, clinical outcomes, continuity of care, efficiency, and system performance across diverse settings. The focus will include health care integration of HIV, TB, SHR with NCD services into primary care models, transitioning vertical programs into primary health care or government-led models, building a fit-for-purpose workforce to support new models, clinical policies to address equitable access, as well as strategies to engage diverse community stakeholders in primary healthcare decision-making processes.     

Theme 3: Strengthening Global Health Security through Preparedness, Response, and Innovation  

This track focuses on enhancing preparedness, prevention, early detection, and response to emerging and re-emerging public health threats, including the use of data-driven and technological innovations to strengthen immunization, surveillance, and laboratory systems to support early detection and safe response and strengthen health system resilience.     

Theme 4: Clinical and Programmatic Innovations to Drive Quality of Care  

This track highlights clinical, operational, and programmatic innovations that measurably improve the quality, safety, and patient-centeredness of care across all services delivered within the Network. These include approaches across a wide range of clinical and programmatic areas such as HIV, TB, SRH, maternal and newborn health, small and sick newborn care, sickle cell disease, and childhood cancer. Technology enabled innovations to improve care delivery, patient experience, or provider performance, such as digital and data enabled tools, AI supported decision aids, mobile health applications, point of care technologies or monitoring devices, or digital dashboards would also be featured in this track.   

Templates

Guidance

Recordings from upcoming webinars will be available here following each event.

Presenters: Susan Torrey, MD; Heather Haq, MD, MHS

Watch video
Thursday, May 8, 2025

Presenters: Heather Haq, MD, MHS

Watch video

Presenter: Binita Patel, MD 

Watch video

Presenter: Susan Torrey, MD

Watch video

Presenter: Heather Haq, MD, MHS

Watch video

Presenters: Heather Haq, MD, MHS; Brodus Franklin, MD, MHA, MBA

Watch video

Presenters: Heather Haq, MD, MHS; Brodus Franklin, MD, MHA, MBA

Watch video

Presenters: Brodus Franklin, MD, MHA, MBA, Carlton Mamo, BS

Watch video

Anyone interested in receiving coaching support for preparing their abstracts should sign up using the Abstract Coaching Support application, which may be accessed through the above link. Please note that the deadline to request coaching support is 18 May 2026. This support is designed to help enhance the quality of your submissions by providing personalized feedback and guidance.

Step-by-Step Guide to Submit an Abstract

  1. Access the Submission Link: Navigate to the Oxford Abstracts platform using the provided submission link for the 27th Global Health Network Meeting.
  2. Create an Account: Click on the “Create an account” button to start the registration process.
  3. Continue with Email: Choose the option “Continue with email” to proceed with using your email for registration.
  4. Enter Your Email and Personal Details: Type in your email address associated with your Foundation/COE, BCM, or TCH (Please use the same email address from previous years, if applicable). Follow this by entering your first and last name.
  5. Set Up Your Password: Create a password for your account. Make sure that your password includes at least 8 characters, one number, and one letter to meet the security requirements.
  6. Confirm Your Password: Re-enter your password in the confirmation field to ensure it is correct.
  7. Finalize Account Creation: Click on “Create account” to complete the setup of your new account.
  8. Submit Your Abstract: Once your account is successfully created, you will be directed to the submission form. Fill out the form with the necessary details of your abstract and follow any further instructions to submit it for the 25th Global Health Network Meeting.

By following these steps, you will be able to successfully submit your abstract.

Steps to save and complete your submission later:

  1. Submit Your Progress: Press the "Submit" button to save your current progress. This action saves a draft of your submission. You can return later to complete it.

  2. Return to Dashboard: After saving, return to the main dashboard by visiting https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/dashboard. From there, locate the NWM2026 event and access the event-specific dashboard at https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/admin/events/77323/app.

  3. Edit Your Submission: On the event-specific dashboard, you will see your existing submission. If submissions are still open for editing, you can make any necessary changes.
  4. Check for Alerts: If any mandatory fields are incomplete, a pop-up alert will notify you when you attempt to submit. Your submission will be marked as 'incomplete'.
  5. Complete All Fields: Ensure all mandatory fields are filled out before the final submission deadline to ensure your submission is processed correctly.

Here's a step-by-step guide on how to complete a review using the Oxford Abstracts platform: 

Step 1: Create an Account and Log In 

  1. Receive an invitation to review abstracts.
  2. Create an account on the Oxford Abstracts platform.
  3. Once logged in, your personal dashboard will display the NWM 2026 event. 

Step 2: Access Your Assigned Reviews 

  1. Click 'View' on the NWM 2026 event. [Direct link: https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/admin/events/77323/app]
  2. In the review section, note the number of reviews assigned to you and how many you have completed.
  3. Click the 'Start reviewing' orange button or select a specific submission from the left-hand menu to begin. 

Step 3: Review Submissions 

  1. In the left-hand menu, expand the menu by clicking the blue arrow to see more details about your assigned reviews, including:
    • Review deadline
    • Review status
    • Download button for submissions
    • Filter tool to sort submissions
    • List of submissions assigned
    • Grade summary button
  2. Click on any submission number or the 'Start reviewing' orange button to proceed with the review.
  3. Review each submission by answering the questions displayed on the right side of the screen. Mandatory questions are marked with an asterisk. 

Step 4: Manage and Submit Reviews 

  1. Use the filter tool to narrow down submissions by Title, Category, Submission Status, or Review Status if needed.
  2. Download submission data by clicking the download button if you wish to view all assigned reviews externally.
  3. As you complete reviews, ensure all mandatory questions are answered. A green tick will appear next to the submission in the left-hand menu when completed.
  4. Navigate between submissions using the 'Next submission' and 'Previous submission' buttons at the bottom right of the screen. 

Step 5: Finalize Your Reviews 

  1. Review all your answers; changes are saved automatically, so there is no need for a save button.
  2. After completing all submissions, ensure all have a green tick indicating completion.
  3. You may go back and amend any review before the review deadline, even after initial completion. 

 

Note: There will be no notification upon completing a review, so keep track of your progress using the platform's features. Ensure all reviews are finalized before the deadline.