Improving modelling for epidemic response: a progress update from a community of UK infectious disease modellers
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We reflect on the sustainability of modelling infectious disease outbreaks from the perspective of modelling as a field of practice. We formed a community of practice among UK infectious disease modellers who had contributed to the UK COVID-19 response. We previously used a participatory workshop approach to highlight issues in the infrastructure and incentives for outbreak modelling, and synthesized our experience into a set of 12 specific recommendations. Here, we track changes in the field of infectious disease modelling 1 year later, collecting the quantitative and qualitative views of change among 14 participants. We found participants continued to highlight a lack of ongoing, sufficient or appropriate action to develop outbreak modelling capacity in the UK, while positively noting collaborations among public health facing institutions. We emphasize the under-prioritization of funding for outbreak modelling outside of emergency response periods, and the continuation of unsustainable working practices. Correcting this is crucial to supporting evidence-based public health policy for outbreak preparedness and response.
Date Issued
2025-09-26
Date Acceptance
2025-06-12
Citation
Interface Focus, 2025, 15 (4)
ISSN
2042-8898
Publisher
The Royal Society
Journal / Book Title
Interface Focus
Volume
15
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/41017903
PII: rsfs20250007
Subjects
Biology
epidemic
infrastructure
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Life Sciences & Biomedicine - Other Topics
metascience
modelling
outbreak response
pandemic preparedness
Science & Technology
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Article Number
20250007
Date Publish Online
2025-09-26