Jameel Institute

Last updated

Jameel Institute
Established2019
Field of research
 Mathematical modelling of disease and emergencies
Director Neil Ferguson
Faculty Kalipso Chalkidou
Majid Ezzati
Edward Gregg
Timothy Hallett
Katharina Hauck
Helen Ward
Campus Imperial College London
Affiliations Imperial College Faculty of Medicine
Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team
Website imperial.ac.uk/jameel-institute

The Abdul Latif Jameel Institute for Disease and Emergency Analytics (commonly, the Jameel Institute) is a research institute at Imperial College London in the fields of epidemiology, mathematical modelling of infectious diseases and emergencies, environmental health, and health economics. Co-founded in 2019 by Imperial College London and Community Jameel, the Jameel Institute is housed in the School of Public Health, within the college's Faculty of Medicine. The mission of the Jameel Institute is "to combat threats from disease worldwide". [1]

Contents

The Jameel Institute rose to prominence in 2020 under the leadership of Professor Neil Ferguson, Director of the Jameel Institute, when, as part of the Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team, the Jameel Institute published mathematical modelling of the COVID-19 pandemic. [2] As part of the COVID-19 pandemic response, researchers from the Jameel Institute provided expert advice to the UK government's Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling, Operational sub-group (SPI-M-O). In 2022, SPI-M-O was awarded the Weldon Memorial Prize, which is awarded annually by the University of Oxford for "noteworthy contributions to the development of mathematical or statistical methods applied to problems in Biology". [3]

History

In October 2019, the Jameel Institute was co-founded by Imperial and Community Jameel, an organisation of the Jameel family, owners of the Abdul Latif Jameel business. [4] [5] [6] The Jameel Institute was launched at a signing ceremony on Imperial's White City campus, with Imperial's president, Alice Gast, and Fady Jameel and Hassan Jameel, presidents of Community Jameel. [5]

COVID-19 pandemic

In 2020, from the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the Jameel Institute began publishing regular reports with results of mathematical modelling of the spread of the virus. [7] [8] [9] The Jameel Institute and other research centers in Imperial involved in the modelling were later grouped into the Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team. [10] [11] As of November 2020, the team had published 36 reports. [12]

Report 9

On 16 March 2020, the Jameel Institute—together with the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Modelling and the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis (MRC GIDA)—published "Report 9: Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce COVID-19 mortality and healthcare demand", with a focus on the UK and the US. [13]

The report found:

Two fundamental strategies are possible: (a) mitigation, which focuses on slowing but not necessarily stopping epidemic spread – reducing peak healthcare demand while protecting those most at risk of severe disease from infection, and (b) suppression, which aims to reverse epidemic growth, reducing case numbers to low levels and maintaining that situation indefinitely. Each policy has major challenges. We find that that optimal mitigation policies (combining home isolation of suspect cases, home quarantine of those living in the same household as suspect cases, and social distancing of the elderly and others at most risk of severe disease) might reduce peak healthcare demand by 2/3 and deaths by half. However, the resulting mitigated epidemic would still likely result in hundreds of thousands of deaths and health systems (most notably intensive care units) being overwhelmed many times over. For countries able to achieve it, this leaves suppression as the preferred policy option. We show that in the UK and US context, suppression will minimally require a combination of social distancing of the entire population, home isolation of cases and household quarantine of their family members. This may need to be supplemented by school and university closures, though it should be recognised that such closures may have negative impacts on health systems due to increased absenteeism. The major challenge of suppression is that this type of intensive intervention package – or something equivalently effective at reducing transmission – will need to be maintained until a vaccine becomes available (potentially 18 months or more) – given that we predict that transmission will quickly rebound if interventions are relaxed. We show that intermittent social distancing – triggered by trends in disease surveillance – may allow interventions to be relaxed temporarily in relative short time windows, but measures will need to be reintroduced if or when case numbers rebound. [13]

The report led to changes in policy by the UK and US governments, including more stringent social distancing, quarantine, and other preventative measures, as well as informing policy in other countries worldwide. [14] [8] [10] [9]

Coursera

To provide education about the pandemic, the Jameel Institute launched a free massive open online course on Coursera called "Science Matters: Let's Talk About COVID-19". [15] The most popular course launched on Coursera in 2020, the Jameel Institute had over 130,000 enrolled learners that year. [16] The course was presented by Jameel Institute research lead Professor Helen Ward and deputy director Dr Katharina Hauck, with specific modules in collaboration with other researchers from across Imperial. [17]

Jameel Institute symposium

The inaugural symposium, marking the Jameel Institute's first anniversary, took place on 24 November 2020, featuring Dame Sally Davies, former chief medical officer for England, and Professor Esther Duflo, Nobel Prize laureate and co-founder of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). [18] [19] Prior to the symposium, the Jameel Institute published a recorded discussion between Neil Ferguson, Director of the Jameel Institute, and Tony Blair, former prime minister of the United Kingdom, on the subject of the symposium. [20]

Faculty and leadership

The director of the Jameel Institute since its founding is Professor Neil Ferguson, professor of mathematical biology and also director of the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis (MRC GIDA) at Imperial. [21] [22]

The Jameel Institute has six research leads: [21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medical Research Council (United Kingdom)</span> National medical research agency

The Medical Research Council (MRC) is responsible for co-coordinating and funding medical research in the United Kingdom. It is part of United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI), which came into operation 1 April 2018, and brings together the UK's seven research councils, Innovate UK and Research England. UK Research and Innovation is answerable to, although politically independent from, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunetra Gupta</span> British novelist and epidemiologist

Sunetra Gupta is an Indian-born British infectious disease epidemiologist and a professor of theoretical epidemiology at the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford. She has performed research on the transmission dynamics of various infectious diseases, including malaria, influenza and COVID-19, and has received the Scientific Medal of the Zoological Society of London and the Rosalind Franklin Award of the Royal Society. She is a member of the scientific advisory board of Collateral Global, an organisation which examines the global impact of COVID-19 restrictions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imperial College Faculty of Medicine</span> Faculty of medicine in London, England

The Faculty of Medicine is the academic centre for medical and clinical research and teaching at Imperial College London. It contains the Imperial College School of Medicine, which is the college's undergraduate medical school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coursera</span> Online education technology company

Coursera Inc. is an American global massive open online course provider. It was founded in 2012 by Stanford University computer science professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller. Coursera works with universities and other organizations to offer online courses, certifications, and degrees in a variety of subjects.

Sharon Jayne Peacock is a British microbiologist who is Professor of Public Health and Microbiology in the Department of Medicine at the University of Cambridge. Peacock also sits on Cambridge University Council.

Professor Graham Cooke is a clinician scientist and NIHR Professor of Infectious Diseases at the Wright-Fleming Institute of Imperial College London. He is best known for his work on viral hepatitis, particularly hepatitis C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Ferguson (epidemiologist)</span> British epidemiologist and researcher

Neil Morris Ferguson is a British epidemiologist and professor of mathematical biology, who specialises in the patterns of spread of infectious disease in humans and animals. He is the director of the Jameel Institute, and of the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, and head of the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology in the School of Public Health and Vice-Dean for Academic Development in the Faculty of Medicine, all at Imperial College London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 pandemic in the Central African Republic</span> Ongoing COVID-19 viral pandemic in the Central African Republic

The COVID-19 pandemic in the Central African Republic was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the Central African Republic in March 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic in Equatorial Guinea was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached Equatorial Guinea on 14 March 2020. Equatorial Guinea has a weak healthcare system, leaving it vulnerable to an outbreak.

The COVID-19 pandemic in Chad was a part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached Chad in March 2020. As the third least developed nation in the world, according to the HDI in 2019, Chad has faced unique economic, social, and political challenges under the strain of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Azra Catherine Hilary Ghani is a British epidemiologist who is a professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Imperial College London. Her research considers the mathematical modelling of infectious diseases, including malaria, bovine spongiform encephalopathy and coronavirus. She has worked with the World Health Organization on their technical strategy for malaria. She is associate director of the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis.

The Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team is a group of experts from Imperial College London studying the COVID-19 pandemic and informing the government of the United Kingdom, and governments and public health agencies around the world. The team comprises scientists from the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, the Jameel Institute, the Imperial College Business School and the Department of Mathematics. The Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team is led by Professor Neil Ferguson, Director of the Jameel Institute and MRC GIDA.

Helen Ward is a British physician who is professor of public health at Imperial College London and director of the patient experience research centre. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ward called for the Government of the United Kingdom to be more proactive in their response to the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2.

Daisy Fancourt is a British researcher who is a professor of psychobiology and epidemiology at University College London. Her research focuses on the effects of social factors on health, including loneliness, social isolation, community assets, arts and cultural engagement, and social prescribing. During the COVID-19 pandemic Fancourt led a team running the UK's largest study into the psychological and social impact of COVID-19 and established the international network COVID Minds, aiming to better understand the impact of coronavirus disease on mental health and well-being. In She is listed by Clarivate as one of the most highly cited and influential scientists in the world.

CovidSim is an epidemiological model for COVID-19 developed by Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team, led by Neil Ferguson. The Imperial College study addresses the question: If complete suppression is not feasible, what is the best strategy combining incomplete suppression and control that is feasible and leads to acceptable outcomes?

The MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis is a Medical Research Council funded research centre at Imperial College London and a WHO collaborating centre. It is part of the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at School of Public Health within the Imperial College Faculty of Medicine. Neil Ferguson is the director of the centre, along with four associate directors: Christl Donnelly, Azra Ghani, Nicholas Grassly, and Timothy Hallett. The centre also collaborates UK Health Protection Agency, and the US Centre for Disease Control. The centre's main research areas are disease outbreak analysis and modelling, vaccines, global health analytics, antimicrobial resistance, and developing methods and tools for studying these areas. The centre was previously called the MRC Centre for Outbreak Analysis and Modelling.

The MIT Abdul Latif Jameel Clinic for Machine Learning in Health is a research center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and health sciences, including disease detection, drug discovery, and the development of medical devices. The MIT Jameel Clinic also supports the commercialization of solutions through grant funding, and has partnered with pharmaceutical companies, like Takeda and Sanofi, and philanthropies, like Community Jameel and Wellcome Trust, to forge collaborations between research and development functions and MIT researchers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shabir Madhi</span> South African physician and professor

Shabir Ahmed Madhi, is a South African physician who is professor of vaccinology and director of the South African Medical Research Council Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand, and National Research Foundation/Department of Science and Technology Research Chair in Vaccine Preventable Diseases. In January 2021, he was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Katharina Hauck is an economist, professor and deputy director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Institute for Disease and Emergency Analytics at Imperial College London. Her research concentrates on the economics of infectious diseases, and how public health interventions and pandemic preparedness impact economies

References

  1. ↑ "Imperial researchers recognised for collaborative COVID-19 modelling efforts". Imperial College London. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  2. ↑ Clark, Pilita (20 March 2020). "Neil Ferguson, a virus modeller sounds the alarm". The Financial Times . Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  3. ↑ "Abdul Latif Jameel Institute for Disease and Emergency Analytics". Imperial College London. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  4. ↑ Cookson, Clive (15 October 2019). "Imperial to set up disease research centre with Saudi support". The Financial Times . Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  5. 1 2 "Rapid response research centre to predict and prevent global health crises | Imperial News | Imperial College London". Imperial News. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  6. ↑ Gast, Alice (4 May 2020). "Philanthropic funding must fill the urgent coronavirus research gap". The Financial Times . Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  7. ↑ "COVID-19". Imperial College London. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  8. 1 2 "The disease outbreak centre where scientists tackle the deadly coronavirus". www.myscience.uk. 29 May 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  9. 1 2 "The disease outbreak centre where scientists tackle the deadly coronavirus | Imperial News | Imperial College London". Imperial News. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  10. 1 2 "The global impact of Imperial's COVID-19 Response Team | Imperial News | Imperial College London". Imperial News. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  11. ↑ Wilson, Deborah Evanson, Joanna. "COVID-19: six months on the frontline (An Imperial Story)". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 18 November 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ↑ "COVID-19 reports". Imperial College London. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  13. 1 2 Ferguson, N; Laydon, D; Nedjati Gilani, G; Imai, N; Ainslie, K; Baguelin, M; Bhatia, S; Boonyasiri, A; Cucunuba Perez, ZULMA; Cuomo-Dannenburg, G; Dighe, A (16 March 2020). "Report 9: Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce COVID19 mortality and healthcare demand". Medical Research Council (MRC). doi:10.25561/77482. hdl:10044/1/77482.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  14. ↑ Landler, Mark; Castle, Stephen (17 March 2020). "Behind the Virus Report That Jarred the U.S. and the U.K. to Action". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  15. ↑ "COVID19: Imperial launches free online course exploring science behind outbreak | Imperial News | Imperial College London". Imperial News. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  16. ↑ "Free COVID-19 online course re-launches to learners worldwide | Imperial News | Imperial College London". Imperial News. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  17. ↑ "Science Matters: Let's Talk About COVID-19". Coursera. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  18. ↑ "One year anniversary | Research groups | Imperial College London". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  19. ↑ "World leading experts in health, science and economics discuss post-Covid world | Imperial News | Imperial College London". Imperial News. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  20. ↑ "J-IDEA symposium: Tony Blair on the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic | Imperial News | Imperial College London". Imperial News. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  21. 1 2 "People". Imperial College London. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  22. ↑ "Home - Professor Neil Ferguson". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  23. ↑ "Home - Professor Kalipso Chalkidou". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 17 November 2020.

51°31′05″N0°10′23″W / 51.518°N 0.173°W / 51.518; -0.173

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.