LiMeRA
LiMeRA is a new initiative to promote outcome-oriented, high-quality, translational research in lifestyle medicine and chronic non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention, management, and reversal in Sri Lanka through meaningful collaborations. LiMeRA stands for the Lifestyle Medicine Research Alliance.
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LiMeRA aims to help students, researchers, primary care clinicians, and the communities to develop research questions/protocols, set up studies, and publish their work. This supporting framework is provided to the members/collaborators of LiMeRA through collaborative research projects. In addition, we aim to facilitate student research projects, research electives, and split research degrees in collaboration with the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka.
Traditionally, clinical research is conducted in universities, teaching hospitals, and specialised centres. However, we increasingly recognise that such research does not always address the questions that are important in the practice: management, reversal, and prevention of lifestyle-related diseases in primary care settings and quality improvement in healthcare. Such topics have to be investigated in the real-world settings - e.g., communities and primary care facilities - in which we work.
On the other hand, research outcomes related to NCDs (lifestyle-related diseases), in particular in primary care, have been poor in Sri Lanka. The lack of evidence is a significant limitation in the pursuit of identifying and broadening the application of the best practices and economically viable solutions/interventions to healthcare issues we are facing today and in ensuring evidence-informed policymaking.
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The students and the communities are of paramount importance to what we do in scientific research as they are the future and the key beneficiaries of biomedical research, respectively. However, we observe that these populations are given less priority in the planning and implementation stages of the research projects.
Faculty of Medicine, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Belihuloya 70140, Sri Lanka.
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Sri Lankan Society of Lifestyle Medicine, 45/25E, 1/1, Higgahawatte Mawatha, Papiliyana, Sri Lanka