Fogarty International Center collaborative networks in infectious disease modeling: lessons learnt in research and capacity building

Publication date: Available online 23 October 2018Source: EpidemicsAuthor(s): Martha I. Nelson, James O. Lloyd-Smith, Lone Simonsen, Andrew Rambaut, Edward C. Holmes, Gerardo Chowell, Mark A. Miller, David J. Spiro, Bryan Grenfell, Cécile ViboudAbstractDue to a combination of ecological, political, and demographic factors, the emergence of novel pathogens has been increasingly observed in animals and humans in recent decades. Enhancing global capacity to study and interpret infectious disease surveillance data, and to develop data-driven computational models to guide policy, represents one of the most cost-effective, and yet overlooked, ways to prepare for the next pandemic. Epidemiological and behavioral data from recent pandemics and historic scourges have provided rich opportunities for validation of computational models, while new sequencing technologies and the ‘big data’ revolution present new tools for studying the epidemiology of outbreaks in real time. For the past two decades, the Division of International Epidemiology and Population Studies (DIEPS) of the NIH Fogarty International Center has spearheaded two synergistic programs to better understand and devise control strategies for global infectious disease threats. To prepare for future influenza pandemics, the Multinational Influenza Seasonal Mortality Study (MISMS) has strengthened global capacity to study the epidemiology and evolutionary dynamics of influenza viruses in 80 countries by organizing internat...

Source: Epidemics - October 23, 2018 Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research