Background: A five-year program (2007-2012) of research and capacity building, “Strengthening Nurses’ Capacity in HIV Policy Development in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean” funded by the Global Health Research Initiative (Canada) successfully implemented an innovative model for ramping up nurses’ engagement in health systems change. The “leadership hub” model involved nurses in Kenya, Jamaica, Uganda, and South Africa working alongside local researchers, decision makers, and community representatives to improve health policy and address practice gaps related to HIV and AIDS. Funding acknowledgement: This work was carried out with support from the Global Health Research Initiative (GHRI), a collaborative research funding partnership of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canadian International Development Agency, Health Canada, the International Development Research Centre, and the Public Health Agency of Canada. Purpose: This one-day pre-Congress workshop will examine the potential for replicating and scaling-up this model for nurses’ engagement in health policy processes in lower- and middle-income countries. Co-Principal Investigators from Canada, Kenya, and Jamaica will be joined by representatives from leadership hubs from four partner countries as well as invited international stakeholders (e.g. Directors and Deans; Presidents of national and international nursing associations, Chief Nursing Officers and Registrars; WHO representatives). Participants will review and advise on discussion documents and policy briefs arising from a participatory-action program of research on nurses’ engagement in policy change for HIV and AIDS. Stakeholders will be invited to provide input on recommendations related to the potential scale-up of a model for the engagement of nurses in policy and practice change for priority health issues in lower- and middle-income countries. Priority health issues that will be addressed are mental health, non-communicable chronic diseases and maternal health. Workshop Themes: 1. Leadership hubs as a partnership model 2. Scale-up to address HIV and AIDS and other health priorities 3. Enabling nurses’ leadership of research and evaluation of change models B. Learning objectives • To examine leadership hubs as a partnership model for change to address clinical and community care gaps in lower- and middle-income countries; • To identify and consider how the leadership hub model might be scaled-up to address HIV and AIDS and other health priorities; and, • To discuss the type of institutional support and capacity-building efforts required for nurses to lead research and evaluation of change models.