PHXchange: an NCEPH initiative for research impact

Located within the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, the Population Health Exchange (PHXchange) is a specialist team with expertise in implementation science, knowledge exchange, transdisciplinary research methods, and creative science communication. The PHXchange empowers scholars to ensure that the population health knowledge held and research generated at NCEPH reaches the people who can use it to improve population health.

How can we connect population health researchers with other people so they can work together towards making the world healthier and more equitable?

This question is at the heart of the work of the PHXchange. We seek to build our capacity to achieve research impact—

...the contribution that research makes [and researchers make] to the economy, society, environment or culture, beyond the contribution to academic research. (ARC 2019)

Capacities

PHXchange plays a crucial role in enhancing our quality, influence, and our ability to serve the nation effectively by promoting innovative and varied approaches across various disciplines, as well as fostering a unique skillset for effective communication, collaboration, and engagement with our stakeholders.

Leading the Exchange approach to build impactful research partnerships, we aim to create the conditions for engaged and impactful research via:

• Joint research projects (collaboration and research co-production, co-design, short and long-term, trials, inform policy, consultation)
• Research translation (multimedia storytelling, data visualisation)
• Workforce exchange (secondments)
• Knowledge exchange (seminars, meetings, joint projects, Working group membership)
• Training and capacity building (qualifications in public health and field epidemiology, ongoing professional development in methods and population health content areas)

We envision a future where all sectors work together to creatively address population health challenges of today and tomorrow.