PSI continues to advance global epidemic preparedness through its ongoing involvement in the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST), which has recently received £18 million in funding over the next five years.
The UK-PHRST is an innovative partnership between the UK Health Security Agency and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), funded with Official Development Assistance (ODA) by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
Alongside PSI, partner institutions include the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine as research lead; the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine; the pan-African École Inter-États des Sciences et Médecine Vétérinaires; the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh; Makerere University, Uganda; the Université Catholique de Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo; and SIMAD University, Somalia – with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention serving as a convening and coordinating actor across the partnership.
In the new iteration of this programme, the participating institutions will conduct applied research on all phases of epidemic outbreaks across Africa and Southeast Asia, with a particular commitment to equitable research leadership and a shift in resources to low- and middle-income country partners.
PSI scientists have been involved in UK-PHRST since 2016 with plague, Lassa, Marburg and mpox research activities. In this new round, PSI will contribute specialist expertise in translational diagnostics, virology, novel methods and AI.
Dr Jake Dunning, PSI Senior Research Fellow and Lead for PSI’s research contributions to the UK-PHRST, commented:
“We warmly welcome the renewal of the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team and are proud that the University of Oxford's Pandemic Sciences Institute will continue to contribute to this important partnership. Since the UK-PHRST was formally launched in 2016, Oxford has been a founding academic partner, helping to advance the programme's mission of integrating outbreak response, operational research and capacity strengthening to improve global health security.
"Over the past decade, Oxford researchers have contributed expertise across epidemic preparedness, outbreak analytics, clinical research, pathogen surveillance and international partnerships, supporting the generation of evidence that strengthens public health emergency responses in the UK and around the world. The UK-PHRST has demonstrated the value of combining rapid operational deployment with high-quality research and equitable collaboration with partners in affected countries.
"The renewed programme is closely aligned with the Pandemic Sciences Institute's mission to strengthen the world's ability to predict, prevent, detect and respond to pandemic and epidemic threats. Through interdisciplinary science, global partnerships, and a commitment to translating evidence into action, we are working to build a more resilient future. The next phase of UK-PHRST provides an important opportunity to further advance these goals while supporting locally led solutions to emerging infectious disease threats."