Welcome to the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence newsletter! Here we bring you the latest updates on our transformative approach to collaborative surveillance so that countries are better equipped to detect, monitor and manage public health threats.
Each month, we’ll spotlight key projects, share insights from our experts, recommend resources and highlight upcoming events and opportunities.
We look forward to hearing from you! If you have feedback or questions, you can contact us here.
Voices from the Hub
“My name is Silvia Argimón and I am a Genomic Epidemiologist. I joined the WHO Pandemic Hub in 2023 as a senior technical advisor to support WHO’s work to protect people from infectious disease threats through the power of pathogen genomics.
In pathogen genomics, we analyze the genetic code of viruses, bacteria and other disease-causing organisms to understand how infectious they are, how deadly they are and how they spread. With this information, scientists and public health officials can identify and track diseases to prevent and respond to outbreaks as part of a broader disease surveillance system, and to develop treatments and vaccines.
At the WHO Pandemic Hub, we host the International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN), which brings together experts worldwide, from governments, philanthropic foundations, multilateral organizations, civil society, academia and the private sector. All share a common goal: to detect and respond to disease threats before they become epidemics and pandemics, and to optimize routine disease surveillance. IPSN members and partners can share knowledge and experience through the network, and work on common challenges to improve equitable and sustainable access to pathogen genomic surveillance.
I am very proud that at the IPSN Global Partners Forum in November, we announced the first ten projects that will receive almost US$ 2 million in grants to improve capacities in pathogen genomic surveillance in low- and middle-income countries.
I am optimistic that the projects supported by the Catalytic Grant Fund will build capacity, generate valuable evidence and develop better tools to analyze genomic data that will collectively improve our ability to translate it into public health action.”
📢 Learn more about the International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN), the Global Partners Forum and the ten projects that received the catalytic grants.
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The WHO Pandemic Hub is now on LinkedIn! Follow us for regular updates in English and German on how we support public health intelligence communities worldwide with innovative solutions, knowledge-sharing networks and stronger systems for better decisions during epidemics and pandemics.
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📖 What to read
Being based in Berlin has been an enriching opportunity, enabling the WHO Pandemic Hub to become part of a vibrant German public health ecosystem. Together with the Hub’s founding partners, the Charité and the Robert Koch Institute, we are embedded in a rich scientific community, allowing us to leverage cutting-edge research to advance WHO’s vision for a safer, healthier world. Other fruitful synergies have been established, including with the World Health Summit, an annual event in Berlin that brings together international experts in global health.
Read Health Capital Berlin-Brandenburg’s portrait to find out how leveraging WHO’s convening power has helped to put Berlin on the global health map even more prominently.
📺 What to watch
Our latest Speaker Series event, which we organized with the Charité Center for Global Health, focused on the crucial role that research plays in strengthening pandemic and epidemic intelligence. Over 100 guests attended the event at the Hub in Berlin and more than 1900 people watched online. Dr Thomas Steffen, State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Health, opened the event by emphasizing the pivotal role of evidence-based decisions in tackling global health challenges before we moved to insightful case studies and a panel discussion with global experts.
Re-watch the full event here and if you are interested in the 23 research areas identified as critical for enhancing collaborative surveillance, take a look at our research prioritization publication.
🔁What to share
Trust and collaboration go hand-in-hand, and building this between diverse stakeholders takes time. Yet, we learned at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic that there is simply no other option but to pool data and generate shared knowledge to inform our actions. That’s why the WHO Pandemic Hub is pulling the world together around a new approach towards collaborative surveillance as one of the critical system elements for health emergency prevention, preparedness and response.
Read and share this LinkedIn post by Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, Deputy Executive Director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, on collaborative surveillance. If you want to learn more, read our “Defining Collaborative Surveillance” publication.
📅Upcoming events and opportunities
We are opening applications for our 4th cohort of the GOARN Fellowship Programme. This six-month programme in Berlin, jointly organized by GOARN, the Robert Koch Institute and the WHO Pandemic Hub, aims to strengthen the capacity of GOARN partner institutions and focuses on enhancing pandemic and epidemic preparedness through improved public health intelligence and collaborative surveillance activities.
This opportunity is open to candidates from GOARN partner institutions and networks.
Apply before 17 January 2025 and find more information here.
Register here to join the information webinar on 13 January 2025 at 2 pm CET
Don't miss this chance to make a significant impact on global health!