Who Are We? - About APEIR

The Asia Partnership on Emerging Infectious Diseases Research (APEIR) was initiated in 2006 to promote regional collaboration in avian influenza research. In 2009, the partnership expanded its scope to include all emerging infectious diseases (EIDs). APEIR is a research network, composed of researchers, practitioners and senior government officials from Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

APEIR is built to develop a strong research network in Asia that generates 3M (multi-disciplinary, multi-sector and multi-country) collaborative researches and actions on EIDs based on ecohealth/onehealth concepts, and to facilitate communication and knowledge sharing among countries to reduce the threat of EIDs and their burden on these countries, especially on poor and marginalized groups in the region.

The network aims to accommodate, and facilitate the researchers with and within countries in order to support activities on knowledge generation (e.g., through research), facilitate research capacity building (e.g., by coordinating multiple researchers to develop high-quality research proposals, planning and conducting joint research projects), and encourage and accommodate policy and social advocacy (e.g., by disseminating research results to policy makers) through the network and partnership.

To be the leading EIDs research network in Asia by 2015.

To develop a strong regional partnership in Asia that generates multi-disciplinary collaborative research on emerging infectious diseases based on ecohealth/onehealth concepts, and to facilitate communication and knowledge sharing among countries to reduce the threat of EIDs and its burden on these countries, especially on poor and marginalized groups in the region.

As directed by its strategic plan, APEIR focuses on three strategic objectives:

1. Knowledge generation & knowledge management;
2. Capacity building;
3. Knowledge translation (KT) 

APEIR's organizational structure consists of country representatives, country coordinator focal points, and the APEIR coordinating office to run the organization in day to day basis. APEIR’s working principle is based on mutual trust and a partnership concept. Below is the organizational structure of APEIR.

1. A regional partnership steering committee (SC): The SC consists of 2 representatives from each of the countries involved in the Partnership - Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam - as well as representatives from several donor organizations including IDRC. The SC is responsible for providing overall guidance, coordination and supervision.

2. A small supporting regional coordinating office (CO): The CO is based at the Health Systems Research Institute of Thailand, and is led by an Asian coordinator. The CO is responsible for managing the day-to-day organizational matters of the Partnership, which include: (i) supporting all regional activities planned by the Partnership; (ii) sharing information relevant to national and regional coordination; (iii) organizing and planning SC and other related meetings; and (iv) assisting country focal persons to link research findings to regional and international policy.

3. Country Coordinator: Each country assigns a country coordinator who is responsible for coordinating Partnership activities. This person is affiliated with one of the Partner institutions, and serves as the main point of contact for communicating and coordinating national activities of the Partnership, and bringing all necessary partners within the country together to develop the network. The country coordinator's role is to coordinates national activities decided by the Steering Committee, and to work closely with the Steering Committee and the Coordinating Office to ensure that the country’s participation in the various Partnership research activities runs smoothly.

4. Group of partners for collaborative research programs: Research groups were formed by researchers from the Partnership member countries to jointly develop research proposals, and implement research activities in each country with the same framework and methodologies. Findings from the studies are shared within the Partnership and with other donors. One lead institution from each research group is responsible for coordinating overall research and overall reporting to IDRC and the Partnership Steering Committee.