MRC Researchers to Benefit From Epiverse £3m Funding

Researchers at the Medical Research Council Unit, The Gambia (MRCG) will benefit from a £3 million funding that Epiverse has awarded to the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) to develop software tools that will aid future pandemic preparedness globally, as part of a new pandemic response consortium.

The funding is to support researchers whose work takes a community-supported approach to outbreak analytics software development and aims to fundamentally change how data is used in global infectious disease response.

Building on deep engagement with LSHTM’s MRC Unit The Gambia, a leader in public health research in West Africa, the consortium will work with academic and research centers in the ‘Global South’ advancing data analysis relevant to low- and middle-income countries.

Danil Mikhailov, Executive Director of data.org, told Mirage News: “Working closely with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and MRC The Gambia at LSHTM signals the importance of subject-matter experts in rethinking how we apply data science to solve some of the biggest social challenges. data.org’s role will be to connect these world-class academic teams with specialists in other sectors, from technologists to communicators, to policymakers. This partnership is the beginning of a growing effort to convene some of the brightest, most diverse minds globally to enable data-driven solutions in the social sector.”

Epiverse, a new global consortium to design and build the data analysis software tools of the future and improve access in low- and middle-income countries.

This funding marks the first investment by Epiverse, led by data.org, since the UK government invited them to lead the effort to ensure safe access to data and data analysis for health emergencies, in response to a request from the Science Academies of G7 nations (S7).

This collaborative approach fulfills a key element of the Epiverse initiative, which calls for the co-creation of tools and infrastructure, particularly in low and middle-income countries where there is limited access to data analysis.

Dr. Adam Kucharski, from LSHTM and co-lead of the initiative, said: “This funding will help us accelerate the development of tools that will ultimately be maintained and used by a globally diverse community of researchers, scientists, and practitioners. This is a unique opportunity for truly scalable and sustainable epidemic analysis – it will change the way data tackles global challenges.”

With this partnership, LSHTM brings a breadth of expertise and experience in epidemiological modeling and open-source software creation and management-a rare and robust combination.

Source: miragenews