Building the next generation of implementation researchers for health systems that need them most.

FORGE gathers early-career researchers around structured, multi-year programmes on health-technology implementation in low- and middle-income countries, so individual projects build toward a shared, cumulative evidence base.

The problem FORGE addresses

Good research, but no cumulative evidence and no pipeline.

A tool that works in a clinical trial does not automatically work in a health system.

2 in 3

people worldwide lack basic diagnostics at the point of care.

Thin implementation evidence

The hard question is how a technology is governed, financed, staffed, and sustained under real constraints. That evidence is thinnest of all.

Isolated theses don't accumulate

A master's thesis is usually a one-off. It rarely builds on what came before, and the researcher rarely continues.

FORGE exists to fix this

Coordinated programmes that produce both the researchers and the evidence LMIC health systems need.

How it works

A different model for building evidence and researchers.

FORGE is a research entity that generates evidence and, in doing so, builds a community of practice, connecting early-career researchers into multidisciplinary working groups.

Structured research programmes

A multi-year initiative organised into work packages, grouped by research logic rather than by technology alone.

Projects that specify what they need

Every project states its design, data needs, prerequisites, difficulty, timeline, and publication potential, so you can judge fit before committing.

Evidence that accumulates

Each project adds to an evidence base that grows across cohorts, instead of resetting every graduation cycle.

The FORGE forum

A programme people apply to becomes a community people belong to.

Register and join a searchable network of early-career researchers, connected into multidisciplinary working groups that build evidence together.

Researcher profiles

A living directory of your background, methods, country context, and interests.

Working groups & open projects

Multidisciplinary teams and the full portfolio of projects across every FORGE programme.

Methods & evidence

Curated methodological resources and a growing library of completed research.

Flagship Programme

DIHS: Diagnostic Innovation for Health Systems Strengthening

Our inaugural programme: how point-of-care ultrasound and other diagnostics can be implemented, governed, financed, and sustained in LMIC health systems.

1
Policy
2
Workforce
3
Implementation
4
Economics
5
Digital & AI
6
Evaluation
6
Work packages
15
Defined projects
2026–2030
Five-year horizon
POCUS
Primary empirical case

People

The people behind FORGE.

Built by researchers, for researchers, with guidance from an advisory board in implementation science and global health.

S. Kofi Abrokwa

Founder

Founder of FORGE, working to build structured, cumulative programmes of implementation research on health technologies in low- and middle-income countries, turning isolated early-career research into a coordinated evidence base and a pipeline of implementation researchers.

Co-Founder

Open role

This seat is open. If you want to help build FORGE from the ground up, shaping its programmes and its community, we'd like to hear from you.

Co-Founder

Open role

A second founding seat is open. We're looking for people with complementary expertise in implementation science, global health, or LMIC health systems.

Interested in joining the FORGE Advisory Board?

The board provides strategic guidance and methodological oversight, helping shape programmes, safeguard quality, and connect FORGE to the institutions that need implementation evidence. We're inviting experienced researchers and health-system leaders to help guide FORGE as it grows.

Get in touch

Get involved

Whether you're a researcher, a supervisor, or an institution.

If you're an early-career researcher, a supervisor, or an institution interested in hosting FORGE projects, we'd like to hear from you.