LASER PULSE, a $70 Million 10-year program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), hosted the USAID LASER PULSE Research for Development Summit at Howard University. The event highlighted the approach taken to design research collaborations with partners from different disciplines and regions, stakeholders, policymakers and donors in order to produce relevant and usable solutions to global challenges in lower-and-middle-income countris (LMICs). 

The event, which took place on May 2nd, featured speakers from a variety of roles and regions of the world, including the keynote address from Mohamed Abdel-Kader, USAID's Chief Innovation Officer and Executive Director of the Innovation, Technology and Research Hub. 

The event kicked off with opening remarks by Yih, and sessions included panels that covered topics such as food security and nutrition, education and "LASER Engagement with Minority Serving Institutions." In her opening remarks, Yih commented on the need to continue to innovate and research for the betterment of humanity and stated "through cross-sector partnerships, and translation research, we can combine the expertise and resources of all development actors and researchers to create innovatiove solutions for some of the most pressing challenges we face today."

Yuehwern Yih speaks with attendees of the USAID Summit.

The summit, which aimed to bring together representatives from USAID Missions, Bureaus and Independent Offices to share LASER PULSE's experience using academic rigor to create solutions for develoment challenges, concluded with closing remarks by Pallavi Gupta, Program Director of LASER PULSE. 

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