Lisa Boden is a senior lecturer in Population Medicine and Animal Health Policy at the Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Security. Her professional background spans clinical veterinary medicine and surgery for small and large animals, and she has a PhD in quantitative veterinary epidemiology (with specific expertise in multi-level modelling), UK and EU specialist qualifications in veterinary public health and population medicine, Membership of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Epidemiology, and a Masters in Medical Law and Ethics. Lisa is an interdisciplinary researcher with specialist expertise in veterinary public health, animal health policy & law, contingency planning, coordination & communication of rapid advice in crises/emergencies (such as animal disease outbreaks), & foresighting strategic visioning techniques to improve long-term resilience in agriculture. She is Deputy Director/ PI on EPIC, Scottish Government’s Centre of Expertise on Animal Disease Outbreaks (www.epicscotland.org) which comprises more than 40 academics in 6 research institutes within Scotland (£10 million, funded for 3 consecutive 5- year funding cycles) and has been an effective knowledge-broker & science-policy liaison (working between EPIC & Scottish Government (SG) Animal Health & Welfare Division) since 2011. Her research interests are around the generalizable lessons that can be learned from EPIC regarding the timely delivery of interdisciplinary research evidence to decision-maker audiences both in times of crisis and during interim periods. In 2019, Lisa received funding to found a University of Edinburgh network of expertise, supported by Cara (Syria Programme) to support displaced academics in the Levant for the co-development of interdisciplinary research approaches and strategies for a successful transition away from humanitarian provision of short-term food supplies and agriculture inputs towards long-term contingency planning for food security under conditions of protracted conflict. The aim was to increase the visibility of academics working and interested in global food and health security in fragile and conflict-affected states (FCAS) – and the role of the global academic community in achieving the sustainable development goals in these regions. In June, the FCAS team hosted a Round Table meeting (Istanbul, Turkey 19-20 June) which brought together private and public sector partners, displaced Syrian academics and local practitioners working in health and food security in Syria. The roundtable meeting enabled University of Edinburgh researchers to build capacity through goal-oriented partnerships within UoE across the Global Academies as well as strengthen existing and develop new partnerships outwith UoE with the University of Aleppo (liberated area), Gaziantep University, Igdir University, American University of Beirut, University of Kent, the Cara Syria Programme, relevant NGOs and IGOs (including Global Communities, BINAA, Shafaq, FAO, ICARDA, World Food Programme, CARE International) and Syrian academics and practitioners working at this disciplinary intersection. This network exists to facilitate collaboration and deliver robust and relevant scientific evidence to support local and international prevention, preparedness and response strategies to existing and emerging food security crises. This network will foster a unique environment in which researchers will share knowledge and respond in a timely manner to policy-relevant questions about food security as they arise. Although the network is in its infancy, it has already begun to demonstrate its capacity to support science policy communication and knowledge exchange between dislocated Syrian academics and decision-makers throughout the whole of Syria. With local partners, the network has identified education and training needs, and partners have started to co-construct a provisional framework for a future programme of research. We have also identified opportunities to connect Syrian academics living in exile with the wider international research community so that they might exercise a social voice in the redevelopment and reconstruction of their culture and future society, particularly in the field of agriculture.