If we do something that works and we have done it only once, there is no guarantee that the same strategy will work in a different place or population. With implementation science and capacity building, we get to fully understand the process and fully develop interventions to overcome context specific challenges. With implementation science we can arrive at a robust strategy that can be cost-effective overtime for the entire population
Our Mission
To foster a collaborative platform advancing implementation science research targeted at building capacity and reducing the burden of cardiovascular diseases in low and lower middle income countries.
Why GRIT
Low and lower-middle income countries (LLMICs) are experiencing a non-communicable diseases (NCD) epidemic which are now the leading causes of mortality in these countries. Nearly 85% of deaths from NCDs occur in LLMICs that are also grappling with competing burden of communicable diseases, fragmented and poorly-equipped health care systems.
Particularly, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the largest cause of death in developing regions with the exception of Sub-Saharan Africa, where it is the leading cause of death in those over the age of 45.
As a result, LLMICs face significant challenges in managing the complexities that accompany multiple risk factors attributable to chronic NCDs. Although numerous effective evidence-based interventions for NCD prevention and control exist, the implementation of these interventions are challenging, thus leading to under-utilization in LLMICs.

Identifying, implementing and sustaining innovative strategies to reduce the burden of NCDs in LLMICs
Given the lack of widespread implementation of existing evidence-based strategies, there is a clear and pressing need to identify, implement and sustain innovative strategies that will have beneficial effects in reducing the burden of NCDs in LLMICs. Therefore in 2017, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) funded 8 programs in LMICs to address this growing burden and the lack of utilization of these implementation strategies in these settings.
Additionally, there is an insufficient exchange of ideas between scientists of different disciplines who are working to improve the late stage phase 4 translational research in LLMICs.
Due to this gap, a shared network in the form of a consortium was established to foster cross-country interaction between scientists working in these 8 countries funded by the NHLBI.
The Global Research on Implementation and Translation Science (GRIT) is a consortium of researchers that support late stage phase 4 translational research Hypertension Outcomes for T4 Research in Lower Middle-Income Countries (Hy-TREC) and the Translation Research Capacity Building Initiative in Low Middle-Income Countries (TREIN).