Epidemiology and global health
People living in resource-limited settings continue to experience high mortality and morbidity from infectious diseases, particularly in the Global South.
This impact is compounded by undergoing the epidemiological transition towards an increased burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which, in turn, are often modified by the presence of particular infections such as HIV or Streptococcus pyogenes infection.
People living in low-resource settings are disproportionately affected by the effect of antimicrobial resistance, while the prevalence of AMR is increased by the lack of reliable diagnostic tests, uncontrolled use of antimicrobials, and counterfeit, poor quality or access to medicines.
We aim to use our expertise in pathogen biology and host-pathogen interactions to address these challenges in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs).
Equitable research partnerships with researchers and clinicians in LMICs
Members of the Florey Institute have high quality established partnerships with teams in a number of LMICs, including in Africa in The Gambia, Ghana, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and in Asia in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Central to these partnerships is respect for the autonomy and best interests of the LMIC researchers.
We share expertise and resources in an equitable manner, as well as contributing wherever possible to local research capacity-building and promoting South-South cooperation and partnerships.
Reducing the burden of infections and AMR in LMICs
We will work with our LMIC partners to deploy strategies aimed at reducing the burden of infections and their longer-term consequences.
This will include collaborations to assess the efficacy of new vaccines, both to prevent infections and also to reduce the extent of AMR.
We will also collaborate to evaluate and implement new diagnostic approaches, particularly those that can be used at point-of-care, to improve the fair and rational use of antimicrobials.
We will work with our partners to understand how infections may contribute to the growing NCD burden, for example the increasing issue of chronic comorbidities in people with HIV infection.
We will provide platforms that bring together experts across a range of disciplines to discuss, develop, and share best practice, and develop mechanisms to explore and promote the exchange of methods and learnings between partners and/or countries.
This can include developing and implementing frameworks of engagement that can be transferred from one theme or expertise area to another, for example, from a LMIC partner to the UK context.
Informed and intelligent pathogen surveillance
The future of infectious disease control relies upon forecasting emerging public health issues and responding to these before they become unmanageable.
We must also ensure that prevention and treatment programmes targeting ongoing issues are evidence-based and data-driven.
To achieve the goal of sustainable infectious disease control, we will use a combination of sequencing- and phylogenetic-based methods of discovery to identify shifts in pathogen biology and drug resistance patterns.
Bioinformatics and AI data analysis are increasingly vital tools to combat pathogens at global scales, and we look to develop and inform these areas.
We aim to use large datasets to identify how pathogens adapt to their hosts, how AMR arises in this context, and what may be done to stop it.
To meet the needs of different countries and communities, we also endeavour to make the collection and use of routine data more equitable, employing rights-based and person-centred approaches.
We also aim to employ more sustainable and epidemiologically robust frameworks and measurement approaches in our analytical and modelling activities.
We will improve the interpretation of this data in global, national and sub-national model calibrations.