PROFESSOR and Head of the Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Canada, Prof. Tolulope Sajobi, has said that methodologists are central to producing quality research evidence capable of transforming healthcare delivery and influencing policy across Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa.
Delivering a plenary lecture titled “One Craft, Many Tables: Methodologists as Leaders in Transdisciplinary Mental Health Research,” Sajobi called for greater investment in methodological sciences and the deliberate development of experts who can lead multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary research teams.
He spoke at the 1st Women Derive Mathematical Models for Mental Health (WEALTH) Conference and the 2nd Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) Conference in Ibadan.
According to him, strengthening methodological capacity is critical to improving research quality, translating scientific evidence into health policies and addressing complex healthcare challenges across the region.
He said the research ecosystem must move beyond viewing methodologists as technical support staff and instead recognise them as strategic partners and leaders involved at every stage of the research process.
Sajobi explained that possessing technical skills such as coding, statistical analysis, systematic reviews or qualitative research does not automatically make someone a methodologist or a research leader.
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“Being able to write code or analyse data does not make you a methodologist. It may make you technically competent, but leadership in methodology requires much more than technical expertise,” he said.
The professor described transdisciplinary research as the future of health research, particularly in mental health. Unlike multidisciplinary research, where experts contribute from their respective disciplines, he said transdisciplinary research breaks down traditional academic boundaries and integrates specialists into a single team working towards shared goals.
According to him, tackling complex health challenges requires close collaboration among clinicians, statisticians, epidemiologists, health economists, implementation scientists, data scientists, communication experts, policy specialists and knowledge translation professionals.
He stressed that research begins with asking the right questions rather than collecting data, noting that methodologists contribute throughout the research process—from developing research ideas and designing studies to analysing data, evaluating interventions, implementing findings and translating evidence into policy and practice.
Sajobi lamented that many researchers still misunderstand the role of methodologists, often involving statisticians, policy experts or implementation scientists only after studies have been completed.
He said this practice is one of the reasons poor-quality research continues to consume substantial financial resources.
“In my career, I have had researchers approach me after collecting data from poorly designed studies and ask me to produce robust findings. Unfortunately, I always tell them I am not a magician. Garbage in, garbage out,” he said.
According to him, involving methodologists only at the data analysis stage often produces weak evidence that cannot effectively influence clinical practice or government policy.
He added that many well-conducted studies also fail to achieve real-world impact because implementation experts and knowledge translation specialists are not involved from the outset.
Drawing on his work in mental health, stroke care and population health research, Sajobi highlighted several international collaborative projects where methodological innovation helped solve complex scientific problems.
He recounted how collaboration between psychiatrists and methodologists enabled researchers to estimate national trends in depression in Canada by adapting meta-analysis methods traditionally used in clinical trials to analyse multiple population surveys conducted over several years.
In stroke research, Sajobi said his team’s methodological contributions led to the development of StrokePRO, an electronic platform that enables stroke survivors to report their health outcomes remotely instead of travelling to hospitals for follow-up assessments.
He explained that the innovation emerged after methodologists questioned whether traditional approaches to measuring recovery truly reflected patients’ lived experiences.
Sajobi challenged principal investigators, universities and policymakers to create environments where methodologists, particularly women, are recognised as equal research partners rather than junior technical staff.
He stressed that investing in methodological leadership would improve research quality, strengthen evidence-based policymaking and enhance healthcare delivery across Africa.
“Methodologists are assets to every research team. They improve research quality, build capacity and strengthen the evidence needed to transform healthcare. The next generation of researchers should be able to stand on our shoulders and achieve even more,” he added.
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