Evidence reviews and synthesis
Systematic and rapid reviews connect research findings to the decision, population and context at hand.
Our work
Evidence that can enter real decisions.
CMI organizes research and policy support around the decision to be made, the evidence it requires and the learning that implementation must produce.
Policy lifecycle
Support at the moment it matters.
Before a decision, during implementation and after outcomes emerge.
Before a decision
Design and anticipate
- Clarify the public objective
- Synthesize available evidence
- Compare credible policy options
- Stress-test assumptions and feasibility
During implementation
Test and adapt
- Design pilots and learning protocols
- Observe operational and behavioural effects
- Identify emerging risks
- Adapt without losing policy intent
After outcomes emerge
Evaluate and learn
- Compare intended and observed effects
- Examine who benefited and who did not
- Capture transferable lessons
- Recommend continuation, redesign or termination
Founding focus
Public health, nutrition and food systems.
Four connected practices examine the evidence, policies, commercial conduct and institutional conditions that shape healthy and sustainable diets.
Public health and nutrition evidence
Establish what is known, contested and consequential before choosing an intervention.
Dietary and food-environment research
Dietary evidence and food environments are examined together to reveal the conditions shaping choices and outcomes.
Survey and research design
Questionnaires, interview guides, extraction tools and protocols are designed to produce valid, ethical and usable evidence.
Food policy and corporate accountability
Examine how public rules and commercial practices shape healthy and sustainable diets.
Food-policy analysis
Policy options are assessed for likely effects, distributional consequences, institutional feasibility and implementation risk.
Corporate food-sector assessment
Nutrition commitments, policies and reported performance are assessed against explicit, reproducible criteria.
Monitoring, evaluation and institutional learning
Connect implementation evidence to timely decisions about continuation, adaptation or termination.
Monitoring and evaluation
Theories of change, indicators and evaluation frameworks connect implementation to outcomes and decision thresholds.
Institutional learning
Decision records, review points and adaptation rules help organisations preserve and act on what implementation reveals.
Research, consultation and capacity
Create research processes and public knowledge that institutions can understand, challenge and use.
Stakeholder research and consultation
Institutions, experts, practitioners and affected communities are identified and consulted, with evidence and disagreement synthesized transparently.
Research programme and consortium design
Research questions become coherent methodologies, work packages, evaluation plans and technically credible proposals.
Scientific and technical writing
Papers, reports, policy briefs and evidence summaries preserve the distinction between findings, assumptions and judgement.
Scientific communication and visual reporting
Complex findings become accessible reports, presentations and public material without overstating the evidence.
Training and workshops
Sessions on nutrition, food policy, evidence appraisal and research methods build practical decision capability.
Corporate-sector assessments
Assessments should use explicit criteria, distinguish stated commitments from observed performance and disclose funding and relevant conflicts. No relationship or result is implied unless it is identified in a published research item.
Representative outputs
Evidence designed for use.
The output follows the public question and the decision it must inform.
- 01Evidence review or evidence map
- 02Policy options and decision brief
- 03Theory of change and indicator framework
- 04Survey, consultation or research protocol
- 05Monitoring and evaluation framework
- 06Implementation and adaptation recommendations
Forms of work
Match the collaboration to the policy question.
Research and evidence synthesis
A defined public-policy question examined through explicit methods, evidence sources and limitations.
Policy design and appraisal
Public objectives are translated into comparable options, implementation requirements and testable assumptions.
Monitoring and evaluation
A policy or programme receives a proportionate structure for measurement, learning and adaptation.
Research and capacity programme
Research design, consultation, technical communication and training are combined around an institutional need.
Working with CMI
Begin with the policy question.
Public institutions, research organisations and public-interest foundations can approach CMI with a consequential policy question, its decision context and the evidence already available.