On today’s episode we are joined by Joan Muela from PASS-Suisse/Rovira i Virgili University and Yoriko Masunaga from the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp/University of Amsterdam who share their experiences of engaging with communities to improve malaria trial implementation. Have a listen to learn about: The Community Lab of Ideas for Health (CLIH), a participatory approach for developing community-based solutions to trial implementation strategy challenges How ethnographic research forms an important entry point of interaction between communities and research teams Working with communities in the Gambia and the how the long-standing influence of the MRC Unit The Gambia impacts research dynamicsJoan Muela Ribera, PhD and MScLecturer and senior researcher, PASS-Suisse and MARC at Rovira i Virgili UniversityMy field of research is medical anthropology applied to Global Health projects. I did fieldwork in a variety of African, Asian and American countries, mostly in the field of infectious diseases. My area of expertise is participatory implementation research and systemic evaluation. I strongly believe that people in the communities where we work are the ultimate actors and decision-makers. Our role as Social Science experts is to provide useful and solid information for decision-making, as well as a frame and a systematic approach to co-create and co-implement the project.https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joan-Muela-Ribera https://www.antropologia.urv.cat/en/about/people/adjunct-faculty/ Yoriko Masunaga, MPHPre-doc, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp / University of AmsterdamI am a PhD candidate (in medical anthropology) focusing on community participatory implementation research in malaria elimination interventions. With years of working experience in both research and implementation, I am convinced that communities play pivotal role in integrating research and implementation and in tackling global health issues in holistic and transdisciplinary manner, as a co-designer and co-implementer of research and implementation. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yoriko-Masunaga