Health Systems & Reform

Health Systems Research for a New Era: Foundations, Frontiers, Futures

The field of Health Systems Research has gained increasing attention globally as recognition grows about the importance of decisions on how societies organize health systems and design and implement health policies. These decisions have significant consequences for health, economic development, and social welfare, particularly for vulnerable groups. Health systems research draws on individual disciplines as well as multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches. Recent disruptions in global health make this an especially important moment to reflect on the field’s achievements, challenges, and future directions.

Health Systems & Reform is pleased to launch this collection on the state of the research field, introduced by a commentary from leaders of the WHO Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research and Health Systems Global.

The global ecosystem of health systems research has been deeply disrupted by the sharp reductions in financial commitments to global health from traditional donors. Research projects have been halted, organizations have downsized, and researchers have lost jobs and career opportunities. These changes have weakened health system strengthening efforts, especially in low- and middle-income countries, and reduced the capacity to generate evidence on how policies and systems can improve health. This context creates an urgent need to reflect on major health system challenges and the role of research in addressing them.
This Collection seeks new ideas for advancing health systems research in an era of constrained funding and shifting priorities.

For this Collection, “Health Systems Research for a New Era: Foundations, Frontiers, Futures,” we welcome Research Articles, Commentaries, Policy Reports, and Editorials from individuals and organizations around the world. We seek contributions that address questions such as:
• What defines and distinguishes health system research as a field? How does it relate to health economics, implementation science, global health, public administration, and the social sciences?
• What is the distinctive value and contribution of health systems research in the changing global health landscape? Who uses this research, and for what purposes?
• What are the pressing research priorities, methodological challenges, and evidence gaps? What innovations in research design, data systems, analytical frameworks, or mixed-methods approaches are needed?
• How do funding structures shape research agendas, methods, scientific independence, relevance, and equity?
• What role should communities, populations, and civil society organizations play in health systems research?
• What competencies do current and emerging researchers need, and how can training and capacity-strengthening efforts be made more equitable across geographies, institutions, career stages, and disciplines?
• What is the appropriate mix of single-discipline, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches?
• How should progress in health systems research be measured and assessed?
• What are the structural barriers to, and opportunities for, sustained investment in health systems research?
• Who determines the boundaries, priorities, and methods of the field, and how could these processes be improved?

Keywords: Health System Research, State of the Field, Health Policy Analysis, Health Policy and Systems Research, Health System Performance

Professor Michael R. Reich is Editor-in-Chief of Health Systems & Reform and a leading scholar in the field of Health System Research. He is a political scientist whose research addresses the political dimensions of public health policy, including health system strengthening and reform, access to medicines and pharmaceutical policy, and the political economy of the policy-making process.

Corrina Moucheraud, ScD, MPH is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health Policy & Management, and Co-Director of the Global Center for Implementation Science. As a global health researcher and implementation scientist, she seeks to improve outcomes by strengthening health systems and enabling the delivery of effective, equitable health services. Much of Dr. Moucheraud’s focus is on meeting the needs of women and young people, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

Veronika J. Wirtz, MSc, PhD is a Professor in the Department of Global Health at the Boston University School of Public Health, where she is also Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center in Pharmaceutical Policy. Her research focuses on health system strengthening and policy and program evaluations of medicines access and utilization. She is a Visiting Professor of the National Institute of Public Health (INSP) in Mexico.

Pablo Villalobos Dintrans is an Associate Research Professor at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and Director of the School of Public Health at Universidad Mayor (Chile). He has worked in the public sector in Chile (Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health), in research and in the monitoring and evaluation of public policies.

Dr. Abdo Yazbeck is a Health and Labor Economist with 30 years of work experience in development economics. In his 22-year career at the World Bank, he managed the Health Team for Europe and the Health Team for Eastern and Southern Africa; he also managed and served as a Program Leader and Lead Trainer for the World Bank Institute. He is on the faculty at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo desk assessment and peer review if they can pass the desk assessments as part of our standard editorial process; the Guest Advisor for this Collection will not be handling the manuscripts (unless they are an Editorial Board member).

The deadline for submitting manuscripts is 26 March 2027.

Please contact Saniya Qureshi at [email protected]  with any queries and discount codes regarding this Article Collection.