The overall aims of this project are:
1. Investigating the epidemiology and potential causes of multimorbidity in Serbia: to identify and select regions with high morbidity-hot spots, to collate, link, and analyze health data from those regions, to quantify the prevalence, patterns and impact of multimorbidity; to map the potential environmental, socioeconomic and behavioral risk factors.

2. Capacity building: To provide training, support and mentoring to Serbian researchers, to support the development of skills in advanced statistical, epidemiological, geographical information science (GIS) and health data science methods required to investigate multimorbidity and potential causal pathways.

3. Network development: To develop a multidisciplinary network, and a multiagency partnership, including public health and environmental health policy makers, that can develop, interpret and translate multimorbidity research into policy to mitigate risk factors and reduce the population impact in Serbia.

4. Knowledge mobilization: To share learning with relevant stakeholders, including other countries, that face similar challenges of high levels of multimorbidity, with complex environmental, socioeconomic and behavioral causes, particularly regions affected by war and other forms of armed conflict.

The specific objectives will be addressed by:
1. an initial 7-month programme (Jan-July 2020) for which funding is currently being sought;

2. a further 12-month programme

Project coordinators:

Dr. Aleksandra Mladenović Đorđević, Department of Neurobiology, Institute for Biological Research "Siniša Stanković"

Dr. Elizabeth Goyder, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom