The Pandemic Institute, a world leading facility committed to helping the world prevent, prepare, and respond more effectively to pandemics, celebrates three years of vital work to keep the public safe.
Since opening in autumn 2021, the Institute has advanced research to predict and prepare for the next pandemic. It's built resilience in society to respond and recover from COVID-19 and future health crises and worked to prevent disease outbreaks and epidemics from developing into pandemics.
Ove the last three years The Pandemic Institute has:
- Supported a portfolio of research worth more than £50m led by The Pandemic Institute's investigators based at the University of Liverpool, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and Liverpool John Moores University.
- Established research industry partnerships with a value of more than £5m, strengthening the local economy and employment prospects. One such partnership is with CSL Seqirus, a global leader in influenza prevention. Together they are researching both the threat of seasonal influenza and the development of innovative approaches to pandemic preparedness and response.
- Awarded £3.6m in critical pandemic research funding, and responded rapidly to emerging infections such as Mpox, which was recently declared a global emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
- Provided funding towards the development of diagnostics for some of the world's deadliest viruses including Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF). Transmitted by tick bites, it has a mortality rate of around 30% but there is currently no vaccine. Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine has developed a rapid point-of-care lateral flow test, as well as conducting clinical trials to assess a potential treatment.
- Supported researchers at Liverpool John Moores University who are looking at health inequalities and resilience in communities during a pandemic, and how future responses can be tailored and improved.
- Invested in infrastructure including a new pre-clinical trials unit for testing new vaccines and treatments, based at the University of Liverpool.
- Provided critical advice and support on pandemic prevention and preparedness to the UK Health Security Agency, Department of Health and Social Care, and other government departments.
Professor Tom Solomon, Director of The Pandemic Institute said: "I'm incredibly proud of the work we've done in just three short years, helping to develop new diagnostic tests, treatments and vaccines, for emerging infection threats, and strengthening the research infrastructure. Thanks to our dedicated and ongoing efforts we are in a position to rapidly mobilise funding for essential research and be flexible in times of swiftly changing circumstances."
Director of Public Health for Liverpool, Professor Matthew Ashton, said: "Liverpool has a rich history of delivering bold public health interventions, and the launch of The Pandemic Institute continued our long and proud tradition. Funding shows the ongoing commitment to delivering an innovative response to pandemics on an international scale. It is playing a vital role in the global work to tackle the next pandemic, wherever and whenever that will be, and we should be immensely proud of the foresight the city showed in establishing it."
What's next
The Pandemic Institute will continue to develop new infrastructure in Liverpool to harness the combined expertise of the region.
This spring The Pandemic Institute was awarded funding as part of the Liverpool City Region's Investment Zone plans. Part of the £160m Government pledge will support the Institutes' ambitions to build a new Pandemic Preparedness and Response Facility in Liverpool containing state-of-the-art research laboratories that will strengthen the UK's infectious disease research and innovation capabilities.
