The Gates Foundation, in an effort to accelerate global action, convened the world’s 40 leading bTB researchers and veterinary practitioners in Rabat, Morocco in December 2015.  It was a preeminent group: approximately 50% of academic publications produced on bTB were authored or co-authored by those gathered.  The group set out to achieve three things: clarify a bTB research agenda, record the challenges that impede bTB control, and develop strategies to accelerate bTB control in developing countries.

GKI, through support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Georgia, Cornell University, and the UK’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), designed and facilitated the three-day workshop.  It was an intense, productive, and encouraging experience.  Participants noted that, while some knew each other professionally, this was the first chance they had to put their heads together as experts to constructive a collective vision for action, which GKI’s facilitation enabled.  Outputs of the workshop – including priority research challenges and early thinking on how to address them – will be used in a broader effort to build a global network aimed at accelerating bTB control in developing countries.  This workshop was a critical, first step in achieving this long-term goal.