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Project

WILLEM: Weaving Innovative Leverage points for the effectiveness of surveillance to Limit EpideMic spread

A new pandemic might arise faster than what society is expecting, given the worrying evolution of the spread of avian influenza H5N1 among non-human mammals. The KU Leuven's Institute for the Future has outlined 7 Pandemic Preparedness Goals (PPGs), with PPG1 aimed at limiting the spread of a new pathogen, including as one of its targets a strong surveillance system. Improving the quality of surveillance data is already a huge challenge. Moreover, the relationship between improved surveillance and reduced spread of a new pathogen is not linear. It involves many steps such as fast vaccine development and acceptance (part of PPG1), communication between scientists, politicians, and society (part of PPG6), evidence-based policy decisions (part of PPG3), and a sufficient level of societal understanding and adherence to the proposed measures (related to several PPGs). Such complex relationships result in what we call “wicked problems” and demand a transdisciplinary approach. Our goal is to gain an in-depth understanding of the causal relationships that link improved surveillance with reduced pathogen spread by constructing a causal loop diagram. By analyzing the drivers and feedback loops of our map, we want to develop a conceptual framework of leverage points to improve the effectiveness of surveillance and mitigate as much as possible undesired effects. Finally, we aim to design strategies based on these leverage points and inspire future implementation research.

Date:1 Apr 2023 →  Today
Keywords:Pandemic, Surveillance, Transdisciplinary
Disciplines:Microbiology not elsewhere classified, Environmental health and safety, Epidemiology, Health promotion and policy, Medical anthropology
Project type:PhD project