Preparedness Platform

Emerging viruses pose a significant threat to the health and wellbeing of the UK population. Increased contact between humans and zoonotic reservoirs due to anthropogenic change means that the likelihood of outbreaks is increasing. Strategies will be required to reduce the risk of outbreaks at source and to contain them once they are established. In the Preparedness platform, we will build on infrastructure developed during our research response to the COVID-19 pandemic and on strong UK and international partnerships, aiming better to understand, prevent, detect and respond to viral threats to human health. The aims of this framework have been developed in consultation with colleagues in the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) at Porton (Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory) and Colindale, Public Health Scotland (PHS) and our international partners in Uganda and Malawi to identify key areas that require research innovation and development. Activities will be organised around three central themes that require innovative research-based approaches for enhanced surveillance and preparedness, employing emerging technologies that align with the strengths of the CVR. The platform is designed to be flexible, to integrate core funded activities and externally funded projects that benefit from access to the underpinning infrastructure that includes expertise in genomics and bioinformatics, molecular virologists, clinicians embedded within the NHS, staff with joint appointments with the UK public health agencies, a serology laboratory, an outbreak biorepository, CL3 facilities and data linkage systems. This represents an unrivalled combination of resources and expertise. We have recently demonstrated how we can rapidly pivot to address emerging viruses and aim to build on this experience.