MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis

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MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis
Founded at Imperial College London, Faculty of Medicine
Headquarters London, England
Website www.imperial.ac.uk/mrc-global-infectious-disease-analysis/
Formerly called
MRC Centre for Outbreak Analysis and Modelling

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. [1] [2] Neil Ferguson is the director of the centre, along with four associate directors: Christl Donnelly, Azra Ghani, Nicholas Grassly, and Timothy Hallett. [3] [4] The centre also collaborates UK Health Protection Agency, and the US Centre for Disease Control. [5] 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. [6]

Contents

History

The centre was previously called the MRC Centre for Outbreak Analysis and Modelling. [7] It has also been referred to as the MRC Center for Outbreak Analysis and Modeling [8] Its founding was confirmed in March 2007, with Imperial College London hosting the center with funding from the Medical Research Council (MRC). [9]

In 2016, Neil Ferguson was serving as director of the MRC Center for Outbreak Analysis and Modeling. [10] That year he was lead author on a paper concerning Zika. Published in Science , Ferguson's research suggested the outbreak in South America was undergoing a sharp decline, and would "burn itself out" within a year or 18 months. [11] In 2016, Ferguson published a study in September 2016 raising concerns that wrong implementation of the newly licensed dengue virus vaccine Dengvaxia could increase the number of cases of the disease. [10]

COVID-19 pandemic response

The centre—together with the Jameel Institute for Disease and Emergency Analytics—formed the COVID-19 Response Team in respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. [12] [13] On 16 March 2020 the team produced a research forecast of various scenarios for spread of the disease in the United Kingdom and the United States. Without any mitigation their forecast showed local health care capabilities vastly overwhelmed by the epidemic wave. Periodic cycles of quarantine followed by softer social distancing were recommended, with quarantines in effect two thirds of the time. [14] On 30 March, a study on 11 European countries was published. [15] It provided estimates of the situation as of 28 March (observed and modelised with CovidSim), and projections for 31 March given current expectations, no action, and the difference. It also provided a list of government policies and their respective absolute dates. [15] As of March 2021, the COVID-19 Response Team has produced 43 reports. [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dengue fever</span> Mosquito-borne disease

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne disease caused by dengue virus, prevalent in tropical and subtropical areas. It is frequently asymptomatic; if symptoms appear they typically begin 3 to 14 days after infection. These may include a high fever, headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin itching and skin rash. Recovery generally takes two to seven days. In a small proportion of cases, the disease develops into severe dengue with bleeding, low levels of blood platelets, blood plasma leakage, and dangerously low blood pressure.

The National Institute of Virology in Pune, India is an Indian virology research institute and part of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). It was previously known as 'Virus Research Centre' and was founded in collaboration with the Rockefeller Foundation. It has been designated as a WHO H5 reference laboratory for SE Asia region.

<i>Zika virus</i> Species of flavivirus

Zika virus is a member of the virus family Flaviviridae. It is spread by daytime-active Aedes mosquitoes, such as A. aegypti and A. albopictus. Its name comes from the Ziika Forest of Uganda, where the virus was first isolated in 1947. Zika virus shares a genus with the dengue, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, and West Nile viruses. Since the 1950s, it has been known to occur within a narrow equatorial belt from Africa to Asia. From 2007 to 2016, the virus spread eastward, across the Pacific Ocean to the Americas, leading to the 2015–2016 Zika virus epidemic.

<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">Jeremy Farrar</span> British medical researcher

Sir Jeremy James Farrar is a British medical researcher who has served as Chief Scientist at the World Health Organization since 2023. He was previously the director of The Wellcome Trust from 2013 to 2023 and a professor of tropical medicine at the University of Oxford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015–16 Zika virus epidemic</span> Widespread epidemic of Zika fever

An epidemic of Zika fever, caused by Zika virus, began in Brazil and affected other countries in the Americas from April 2015 to November 2016. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the end of the epidemic in November 2016, but noted that the virus still represents "a highly significant and long term problem". It is estimated that 1.5 million people were infected by Zika virus in Brazil, with over 3,500 cases of infant microcephaly reported between October 2015 and January 2016. The epidemic also affected other parts of South and North America, as well as several islands in the Pacific.

A Zika virus vaccine is designed to prevent the symptoms and complications of Zika virus infection in humans. As Zika virus infection of pregnant women may result in congenital defects in the newborn, the vaccine will attempt to protect against congenital Zika syndrome during the current or any future outbreak. As of April 2019, no vaccines have been approved for clinical use, however a number of vaccines are currently in clinical trials. The goal of a Zika virus vaccine is to produce specific antibodies against the Zika virus to prevent infection and severe disease. The challenges in developing a safe and effective vaccine include limiting side effects such as Guillain-Barré syndrome, a potential consequence of Zika virus infection. Additionally, as dengue virus is closely related to Zika virus, the vaccine needs to minimize the possibility of antibody-dependent enhancement of dengue virus infection.

<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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 pandemic in Benin</span> Ongoing COVID-19 viral pandemic in Benin

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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.

Maria DeJoseph Van Kerkhove is an American infectious disease epidemiologist. With a background in high-threat pathogens, Van Kerkhove specializes in emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases and is based in the Health Emergencies Program at the World Health Organization (WHO). She is the technical lead of COVID-19 response and the head of emerging diseases and zoonosis unit at WHO.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outbreak response</span> Measures to reduce the spread of an infectious disease

Outbreak response or outbreak control measures are acts which attempt to minimize the spread of or effects of a disease outbreak. Outbreak response includes aspects of general disease control such as maintaining adequate hygiene, but may also include responses that extend beyond traditional healthcare settings and are unique to an outbreak, such as physical distancing, contact tracing, mapping of disease clusters, or quarantine. Some measures such as isolation are also useful in preventing an outbreak from occurring in the first place.

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.

Eleni Nastouli is a Greek clinical virologist who works at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) and Great Ormond Street Hospital. At UCLH, Nastouli leads the Advanced Pathogen Diagnostics Unit, where she develops technologies for genome sequencing as well as studying how viruses are transmitted around hospitals. During the COVID-19 pandemic Nastouli led an investigation into infection rates amongst healthcare workers.

Rosemary Jane Boyton is a British immunologist who is Head of Lung Immunology and Adult Infectious Disease at Imperial College London. She works on the molecular immunology of infectious, allergic and autoimmune inflammation. She holds an honorary consultant position at the Royal Brompton Hospital, where she specialises in lung infection.

Science diplomacy is the collaborative efforts by local and global entities to solve global issues using science and technology as a base. In science diplomacy, collaboration takes place to advance science but science can also be used to facilitate diplomatic relations. This allows even conflicting nations to come together through science to find solutions to global issues. Global organizations, researchers, public health officials, countries, government officials, and clinicians have previously worked together to create effective measures of infection control and subsequent treatment. They continue to do so through sharing of resources, research data, ideas, and by putting into effect laws and regulations that can further advance scientific research. Without the collaborative efforts of such entities, the world would not have the vaccines and treatments we now possess for diseases that were once considered deadly such as tuberculosis, tetanus, polio, influenza, etc. Historically, science diplomacy has proved successful in diseases such as SARS, Ebola, Zika and continues to be relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic today.

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?

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Halstead</span> American scientist and virologist

Scott Halstead is an American physician-scientist, virologist and epidemiologist known for his work in the fields of tropical medicine and vaccine development. He is considered one of the world's foremost authorities on viruses transmitted by mosquitoes, including Dengue, Japanese encephalitis, chikungunya and Zika. He was one of the first researchers to identify the phenomenon known as antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), where the antibodies generated from a first dengue infection can sometimes worsen the symptoms from a second infection.

The Abdul Latif Jameel Institute for Disease and Emergency Analytics 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".

References

  1. ↑ Medical Research Council, M. R. C. (3 July 2020). "MRC Response to Covid-19". mrc.ukri.org. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  2. ↑ 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 30 March 2020.
  3. ↑ "Governance". Imperial College London. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  4. ↑ Adam, David (2020). "Special report: The simulations driving the world's response to COVID-19". Nature. 580 (7803): 316–318. Bibcode:2020Natur.580..316A. doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-01003-6 . PMID   32242115.
  5. ↑ UKRI. "GtR". gtr.ukri.org. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  6. ↑ "MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis". Imperial College London. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  7. ↑ "About us". Imperial College London. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  8. ↑ "Proposed cuts in foreign aid could cause malaria resurgence", Reuters , 30 November 2017{{citation}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  9. ↑ "Imperial plans for H5N1", Times Higher Education, 9 March 2007{{citation}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  10. 1 2 "New dengue vaccine could instead cause more cases, experts warn", CNN , 1 September 2016{{citation}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  11. ↑ "Could the Zika threat in Latin America be over in 1-2 years?", Stat News, 14 July 2016{{citation}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
  12. ↑ "The global impact of Imperial's COVID-19 Response Team | Imperial News | Imperial College London". Imperial News. 11 August 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  13. ↑ 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)
  14. ↑ Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team (16 March 2020). "Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce COVID19 mortality and healthcare demand" (PDF).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. 1 2 Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team (30 March 2020). "Estimating the number of infections and the impact of nonpharmaceutical interventions on COVID-19 in 11 European countries" (PDF). p. 35.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ↑ "COVID-19 reports". Imperial College London. Retrieved 5 April 2021.


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