GloPID-R announces the launch of Pandemic PACT

GloPID-R is proud to announce the official launch of Pandemic PACT, the Pandemic Preparedness Analytical Capacity and Funding Tracking Programme. This cutting-edge programme to track and analyse global research funding and evidence is being showcased at a special event on 20 March 2024 co-organised with the Pandemic Sciences Institute (PSI) at the University of Oxford, who lead the programme.

The research funders community has been eagerly awaiting the launch of Pandemic PACT, an innovative new programme to track and analyse global funding and evidence for a wide range of diseases in alignment with the WHO priority diseases. This GloPID-R initiative, led from PSI and in partnership with UKCDR, is designed to track and analyse global data for research on diseases with pandemic potential and broader preparedness activities, ready to pivot in response to outbreaks. “The COVID-19 pandemic taught us the importance of implementing effective policies and systems in the health sector,” said Mongezi Mdhluli, Chair of the GloPID-R Executive Board. “We believe that Pandemic PACT is one of the systems that will guide researchers, funders, and policy makers as we prepare for and respond to future pandemics.”

Tracking funding to facilitate a more collaborative & strategic research response

This new, evidence-based tool represents a valuable resource for all those committed to working together to strengthen global preparedness and response to future outbreaks. “Pandemic PACT stands as a testament to what we can achieve when we unite research with action. This initiative is set to transform how we approach epidemic threats, making our responses more collaborative, strategic, swift, and science-driven,” said Titus Divala of the Wellcome Trust, one of the programme’s funders.

Thanks to improved knowledge of evidence gaps and existing research activities, funding bodies can also make more strategic investment decisions. “In emergencies, understanding for research who is funding what, where and by how much is fundamental in setting priorities and coordinating a response,” said Robert Terry, TDR, World Health Organisation. “I see the launch of the Pandemic PACT as a really valuable tool to address this issue and prepare for the next outbreak or pandemic – when it comes.”

Channelling funding where need is greatest

By providing comprehensive data on research funding and evidence, Pandemic PACT also helps ensure that resources are allocated where they are needed most, to improve the response to future outbreaks. “GloPID-R’s Pandemic PACT enables understanding of R&D capacity for informed funding, prioritisation and partnerships,” said Heulwen Philpot, Head of the International Pandemic Preparedness Secretariat. “Collaboration across sectors using this data is vital to advance R&D and ensure timely production of safe, effective, and affordable medical countermeasures.”

A long-term programme

Alice Norton, Principal Investigator for Pandemic PACT, Head of the GloPID-R Research & Policy Team, and Head of the PSI Policy and Practice Research Group, has developed and led the programme since its inception. “Seeing the combined efforts of so many partners and collaborators come to fruition is extremely rewarding,” she said. “This launch marks the culmination of a great deal of work by many talented individuals. I’m grateful for the support of our Pandemic PACT funders and the guidance of the expert Pandemic PACT Advisory Group.”

Building on past successes: COVID CIRCLE, the COVID-19 Research Project Tracker, and the LMR

Based on the experience of the COVID-19 research response, Pandemic PACT builds on and expands the achievements of the UKCDR and GloPID-R COVID-19 Research Project Tracker and COVID CIRCLE (the COVID-19 Research Coordination and Learning) with its special focus on resource-limited settings. These initiatives and the associated Living Mapping Review for COVID-19 funded research projects (LMR) showed the importance of sharing and analysing data on research at the point of funding to improve coordination during a pandemic. The COVID-19 Research Project Tracker was recognised in the WHO Achievements Report as “instrumental in reaching global funding decisions” during the COVID-19 pandemic. The final update of the LMR was published in July 2023 on Wellcome Open Research.

The Launch Event: Lessons learnt from the pandemic and enhancing future preparedness

The Pandemic Sciences Institute, University of Oxford, where the GloPID-R Research & Policy Team and the Pandemic PACT Team are based, is hosting the launch event on 20 March 2024 from 13:30 to 15:30 at the Blavatnik School of Government and online. Over 300 delegates have registered to attend, including leading international experts from global funding organisations, researchers, policy makers and representatives of the academic and policy communities.

SEE THE AGENDA

Publications and outputs

To coincide with the Pandemic PACT launch, a Correspondence was published in The Lancet on 19 March and Wellcome Open Research published ‘A protocol for a living mapping review of global research funding for infectious diseases with a pandemic potential – PANDEMIC PACT.’ Additional outputs include GloPID-R member briefings and publications on outbreaks, as well as regional funder mapping for the GloPID-R Regional Hubs. All publications are available on the Pandemic PACT website.

ABOUT THE PANDEMIC PACT GRANT TRACKER

A dedicated website: www.pandemicpact.org
The programme has developed a dedicated website with data from over $7 billion in research funding across more than 6,800 grants from 77 global funders. The site features interactive charts to visualise data on research grants using filters, and a search tool containing extensive data on grants and their publications, for research on infectious diseases with pandemic potential. All visualisations and data produced by Pandemic PACT and on the website are open access under the Creative Commons BY license.

A ‘living’ prioritisation tool, FAIR by design
The Go FAIR Foundation has advised Pandemic PACT on how to develop their data to be FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable) by design. To facilitate ‘living’ research prioritisation, Pandemic PACT has also established a living Rapid Research Needs Appraisals (RRNAs) platform for priority diseases, in collaboration with Cochrane Response and Cochrane South Africa. The platform is designed to identify gaps in evidence rapidly and rigorously to inform research prioritisation and coordination.

Funders
We are grateful to the funding organisations that made the Pandemic PACT programme possible.

LEARN MORE

1. Pandemic PACT website
2. GloPID-R website, Pandemic PACT
3. Register to attend the Pandemic PACT launch
4. Read Correspondence in The Lancet
5. Read study protocol in Wellcome Open Research

About GloPID-R
The Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness (GloPID-R) works to facilitate cooperation among funding organizations that invest in research to improve pandemic preparedness & response.

About UK Collaborative on Development Research (UKCDR)
The UK Collaborative on Development Research is an organisation working side-by-side with government departments and research funders to amplify and enhance the UK’s international development sector.

About the Pandemic Sciences Institute (PSI)
The Pandemic Sciences Institute at the University of Oxford is a research institute with a mission to discover, create and enable practical solutions to infectious disease threats worldwide. The Institute is hosted by the University’s Nuffield Department of Medicine.