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The world is a complex place, and while its diversity enriches all of us, its disparities continue to challenge us as well.  Those who share the belief of the Bill and Melinda Gates Founation that all people deserve healthy, productive lives, enthusiastically welcome and strongly encourage programs like Global Health Reviewers and the many related efforts funded by BMGF and other organizations to promote global health through research.  
Even as we celebrate our rich diversity and respect our differences, we must also recognize that in many endeavors, doing things differently all over the world can result in inefficiencies and discrepancies that may negatively impact desirable goals--clinical research is one example.
As the international airlines recognized more than half a century ago, a systems approach can be particularly important in addressing the challenges that are inevitable in any complex "global" endeavor, by promoting standardization and inter-operability, indeed, "connectedness" that can tremendously enhance performance, efficiency, quality and safety.  
For too long, global efforts to promoting public health, clinical research, drug development and testing have been fragmented in silos based on nationalities, proprietary intersts, and a host of other factors.   Today, this silo mentality is the reality, and too often we find ourselves encountering walls of our own making that stand in the way of progress toward achieving the vision that Bill and Melinda Gates and many, many others share.  
The Alliance for Clinical Research Excellence and Safety, ACRES for short, is a non-profit, collaborative organization that is applying systems thinking to build a global system for clinical research that is in many ways analogous to the global air transportation system.  ACRES envisions a world in which clinical research is done well and responsibly, according to recognized standards for quality, ethics and safety wherever in the world it is done, for the benefit of all the world's people.  More information about ACRES and its foundation initiatives is availble at its website [www.acresglobal.net], and we urge you to take a look.  
In particular, the ACRES Global Challenge will provide a mechanism and opportunity for governments and industry to work together with private foundations and others to build sustainable world-class research capability in developing countires that will have lasting benefits socially, academically and economically for communities all over the world as they join the global clinical and health research endeavor as true partners.
ACRES believes that an integrated, collaborative multi-sector approach, one that engages industry, academia, governments and communities in achieving a robust system for clinical and health reserach, will allow all stakeholders to do well while doing good.
ACRES looks forward to working with like-minded allies such as Global Health Reviewers and Global Health Trials to make the world a better, healthier and more productive place for us all.  
We believe that a "best-of- breed" model can leverage the good works already being done by committed organizations, companies and individuals all over the world to have greater impact more rapidly at  lower cost, resulting in a much greater return on all investments, whether monetary or social capital is involved.
If you would like to learn more abut ACRES, or if your organizatrion is interested in becoming an ACRES Ally, please contact us:  info@acresglobal.net 
 
Greg Koski, PhD. MD
Alliance for Clinical Research Excellence and Safety