Pandemic Preparedness: Analytical Capacity and Funding Tracking programme (Pandemic PACT): Wellcome Funding Proposal

The ongoing COVID-19 health emergency exposed significant problems with funding and research structures at a global level in a pandemic, resulting in an uncoordinated, fragmented and ultimately inefficient research funding response. The Pandemic Analytical Capacity and Funding Tracking Programme (Pandemic PACT) proposes to build on our work during the COVID-19 pandemic, to develop a broad prospective research funding tracking and analysis capability linked to major funding decision makers. The programme will collate global funding data for a wide range of epidemic prone diseases and broader epidemic and pandemic research preparedness activities on an ongoing basis. It will map these against research domains, research agendas and living Rapid Research Needs Appraisals*. The outputs will include an interactive database of the relevant research funding landscape mapped to domains and priority roadmaps (the tool); regular analyses of funding trends and research gaps; and a standing capability to rapidly identify research needs in the event of a novel outbreak or disease. These outputs will support evidence informed decision making and coordination by the world's major research funders and key policy stakeholders through directly feeding in to GloPID-R's response plan and regional hubs with the goal of improved efficiency and effectiveness of research responses.