Compounding impact by sharing knowledge

Facilitating knowledge sharing between recipients of grants from the Programme on Health Research, as well as in the broader medical community, is a priority to Kavli Trust.

Text: Marianne Alfsen / Felix Media
Photo: Fredrik Naumann / Felix Media

The room is buzzing with the voices of scientists who are in the process of finding new, more effective and cost-efficient ways of promoting the mental health and wellbeing of children and adolescents – with financial support from Kavli Trust and Dam Foundation. The scientists from Norway, Sweden and England are the living, breathing proof of the two foundations’ common goal: To support efforts that improve lives.

Since 2018, the Kavli Trust alone has allocated close to NOK 172 million towards child and adolescent mental health research. Some of the recipients were gathered in Oslo on October 24, 2024 – to present their projects to each other, as well as to the recipients of grants from Dam Foundation. The collaborative event was the first of its kind. In total, 26 scientists presented their work.

«We are now shifting from allocating new research funding to sharing the knowledge from the research projects we support – both in research communities and with the general public,” says General Manager in Kavli Trust, Ingrid Paasche.

Sparked ideas

“There is so much great research going on in this field that I didn’t know about. This conference has sparked a lot of ideas that will help shape my future research,” says Research Fellow at Oxford University, Dr Tessa Reardon. She heads a study into the effect and cost-effectiveness of online parent intervention to prevent anxiety disorders in at-risk children that received a grant of NOK 12.5 million from Kavli Trust in 2019.

Dr Reardon’s words are music to Rune Mørland’s ears, Head of Strategy and Development at Kavli Trust:
“We aim to make the research we support freely accessible to all, encouraging wider value creation and inspiration in other fields. We believe that when professionals have the opportunity to meet and discuss, and scientists discover that their findings may be relevant in other contexts, valuable collaborations occur,” he says.

A new network

In England, for instance, collaboration between Kavli Trust supported research projects has led to a national research network on child and adolescent mental health.

“This initiative wasn’t driven by us, but arose because we are open about the projects and committed to active knowledge sharing,” says Mørland.

He hopes that during the course of the conference, the attending scientists will build new professional relationships.

“I also hope the event can provide fresh inspiration and ideas for future research,” says Mørland.

Motivating & invigorating

“For me, today was incredibly motivating. Some of it involved reflecting on approaches, like participatory methods, which gave me ideas on how to use similar approaches in my work, and made me want to read more on the topic,“ confirms Dr Tessa Reardon, adding that it is the first event of this kind organised by funders that she has attended.

«We work so hard in our own bubbles that it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. Coming to something like this is reassuring; others are facing and overcoming similar challenges, which is invigorating. A lot of the benefit is just meeting people in person. It’s also motivating to realise that, at the core, we share a common goal of improving people’s lives. There’s a lot of overlap in overarching aims and values, as well as in specific methodologies used,” says Dr Reardon, adding:

“The quality of the research and presentations was very high. It makes me proud that our research is funded by Kavli Trust.”

A new phase

The Kavli Trust Programme on Health Research is entering a new and exciting phase, as the last allocations will be made in November 2024 and several research projects are nearing completion.

«It is exciting to anticipate the outcomes, as these long-term projects address critical issues with potentially significant impacts on children and adolescents internationally. I’m optimistic, based on early indicators from some of the projects, we can expect to see implementation of new knowledge-based and effective measures in both preventive and treatment to strengthen the mental health of children and adolescents,” says Mørland.

Final allocations

• Since 2018, the Kavli Trust has allocated close to NOK 172 million towards health research. On 6 November 2024, the foundation will announce the final projects to receive funding.
• The Kavli Trust Programme on Health Research is specially designed to ensure that the funds go to research that will make a difference and be useful for patients, carers and health workers.