Around this time each year, I find myself reflecting on where the ECHO Program was a year ago, where we have gone, and where we are heading. For all of us, 2020 has looked wildly different from all previous years of our lives, and it has come with many challenges. I feel a sense of pride, however, for the way our ECHO teams have stepped up, adapted, and overcome COVID-19-related barriers to continue our important work to enhance the health of children for generations to come.
During this past year, the ECHO Program team publicly launched our ECHO Discovery Series and the ECHO Connector and mapped out a plan for this 5th year of the program to ensure we continue down a successful road toward meeting our mission. Our investigators continue their research, both on the observational and intervention fronts, and there are many research results in the pipeline for publication during this coming year.
As we enter Year 5 of ECHO, our plan outlines goals and objectives to foster a collaborative environment so that our investigators can publish important research that will inform healthcare practices, new health programs in our communities, and health policies. In addition to the goals set forth by the ECHO Components, the NIH ECHO Program Office has created a strategic plan that will help steer the program in the right direction. You may read more about this plan below.
2020 has also seen increased engagement with our stakeholder organizations. I hope that you are enjoying receiving these updates on the ECHO Program, and we look forward to sharing many more in the New Year. We hope you have a wonderful and safe end of the year, and we will be back with the first ECHO Connector of 2021 in January.