A New Paradigm for Pandemic Preparedness

Nina H Fefferman; John S McAlister; Belinda S Akpa; Kelechi Akwataghibe; Fahim Tasneema Azad; Katherine Barkley; Amanda Bleichrodt; Michael J Blum; L Bourouiba; Yana Bromberg; K Selçuk Candan; Gerardo Chowell; Erin Clancey; Fawn A Cothran; Sharon N DeWitte; Pilar Fernandez; David Finnoff; D T Flaherty; Nathaniel L Gibson; Natalie Harris; Qiang He; Eric T Lofgren; Debra L Miller; James Moody; Kaitlin Muccio; Charles L Nunn; Monica Papeș; Ioannis Ch Paschalidis; Dana K Pasquale; J Michael Reed; Matthew B Rogers; Courtney L Schreiner; Elizabeth B Strand; Clifford S Swanson; Heather L Szabo-Rogers; Sadie J Ryan

doi:10.1007/s40471-023-00336-w

A New Paradigm for Pandemic Preparedness

Curr Epidemiol Rep. 2023 Dec;10(4):240-251. doi: 10.1007/s40471-023-00336-w. Epub 2023 Nov 9.

Authors

Nina H Fefferman^{1

2

3}, John S McAlister³, Belinda S Akpa⁴, Kelechi Akwataghibe³, Fahim Tasneema Azad⁵, Katherine Barkley⁶, Amanda Bleichrodt⁷, Michael J Blum¹, L Bourouiba⁸, Yana Bromberg^{9

10}, K Selçuk Candan⁵, Gerardo Chowell¹¹, Erin Clancey¹², Fawn A Cothran¹³, Sharon N DeWitte¹⁴, Pilar Fernandez¹², David Finnoff⁶, D T Flaherty², Nathaniel L Gibson¹, Natalie Harris², Qiang He^{15

16}, Eric T Lofgren¹², Debra L Miller¹⁷, James Moody¹⁸, Kaitlin Muccio¹⁹, Charles L Nunn^{20

21

22}, Monica Papeș¹, Ioannis Ch Paschalidis²³, Dana K Pasquale^{24

25}, J Michael Reed¹⁹, Matthew B Rogers²⁶, Courtney L Schreiner¹, Elizabeth B Strand^{27

28}, Clifford S Swanson¹⁵, Heather L Szabo-Rogers²⁹, Sadie J Ryan^{30

31

32}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-3140, USA.
² University of Tennessee, National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, Knoxville, TN, USA.
³ Department of Mathematics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA.
⁴ Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA.
⁵ School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence (SCAI), Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
⁶ Department of Economics, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA.
⁷ Georgia State University, Prior Second Century Initiative (2CI) Clusters, Atlanta, GA, USA.
⁸ Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
⁹ Department of Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Computer Science, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
¹¹ Department of Population Health Sciences, Georgia State University School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA, USA.
¹² Paul G. Allen School for Global Health, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA.
¹³ National Alliance for Caregiving, Washington, DC, USA.
¹⁴ Institute of Behavioural Science and Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA.
¹⁶ The University of Tennessee, Institute for a Secure and Sustainable Environment, Knoxville, TN, USA.
¹⁷ One Health Initiative, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA.
¹⁸ Department of Sociology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA.
²⁰ Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
²¹ Duke University, Duke Global Health Institute, Durham, NC, USA.
²² Triangle Center for Evolutionary Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
²³ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
²⁴ Duke Department of Population Health Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA.
²⁵ Duke Network Analysis Center, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
²⁶ Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO), University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
²⁷ Colleges of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA.
²⁸ Social Work Center for Veterinary Social Work, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA.
²⁹ Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
³⁰ Department of Geography, Quantitative Disease Ecology and Conservation (QDEC) Lab, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
³¹ University of Florida, Emerging Pathogens Institute, Gainesville, FL, USA.
³² College of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.

Abstract

Purpose of review: Preparing for pandemics requires a degree of interdisciplinary work that is challenging under the current paradigm. This review summarizes the challenges faced by the field of pandemic science and proposes how to address them.

Recent findings: The structure of current siloed systems of research organizations hinders effective interdisciplinary pandemic research. Moreover, effective pandemic preparedness requires stakeholders in public policy and health to interact and integrate new findings rapidly, relying on a robust, responsive, and productive research domain. Neither of these requirements are well supported under the current system.

Summary: We propose a new paradigm for pandemic preparedness wherein interdisciplinary research and close collaboration with public policy and health practitioners can improve our ability to prevent, detect, and treat pandemics through tighter integration among domains, rapid and accurate integration, and translation of science to public policy, outreach and education, and improved venues and incentives for sustainable and robust interdisciplinary work.

Keywords: Multidisciplinary science; Pandemic preparedness; Pandemic science; Transdisciplinary science.

Grants and funding

P2C HD065563/HD/NICHD NIH HHS/United States