LSTM joins £18 million international partnership to strengthen epidemic preparedness

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) has joined a major new international research partnership that will help strengthen global preparedness and response to epidemic threats across Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia.

LSTM is among the partners selected to take part in the next five-year phase of the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST), in an innovative £18 million research programme led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

Through the consortium, LSTM will collaborate with seven leading academic and public health institutions from the UK, Africa and Southeast Asia, including:

• The University of Oxford’s Pandemic Sciences Institute, UK.
• The pan-African École Inter-États des Sciences et Médecine Vétérinaires, Senegal.
• The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh.
• Makerere University, Uganda.
• The Université Catholique de Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo.
• SIMAD University, Somalia.
• The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention acting as a coordinating partner.

Together, the organisations will conduct cutting-edge studies to protect people from epidemic threats and improve health security in the UK and globally. These will fill key evidence gaps in equity, gender, mental health support, One Health solutions, diagnostics, community engagement and AI utilisation.

Dr Thomas Edwards, who is leading the project at LSTM, said: “Infectious disease outbreaks do not respect borders, making global collaboration essential to protecting health worldwide. This partnership brings together leading institutions from across multiple regions, with a strong commitment to ensuring research priorities and leadership are driven by those closest to the communities most affected.

“LSTM has a long history of working alongside partners to tackle some of the world’s most pressing health challenges. We look forward to contributing our expertise to research that will strengthen outbreak preparedness, improve response efforts and support more equitable approaches to global health security.”

LSTM will lead the work in mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), which forms a core element of the holistic support needed for people affected by infections, and countries responding to outbreaks.

Dr Julian Eaton, lead for MHPSS in the UK-PHRST, said: “While mental health is now recognised as a key focus of emergency response, there is still much to understand about how we can support people better. We are taking forward our work with our collaborators in Africa and Asia, strengthening resilience and national capacity to support populations and responders.”

UK-PHRST was established following the 2014-15 West Africa Ebola epidemic to support countries affected by infectious disease outbreaks and public health emergencies.  Funded by the UK Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), in partnership with the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the UK-PHRST aims to support earlier detection of outbreaks, strengthen local response capabilities and ensure leadership sits with the organisations closest to affected communities. The research partnership ensures that this is underpinned by research to build the evidence base for response.

Over the last decade, UK-PHRST has supported the response to Ebola epidemics in West Africa and East Africa, mpox outbreaks and other public health emergencies. This includes training a cohort of expert responders in Africa and carrying out research that has informed new Africa CDC and WHO public health policies and guidance.

The renewed partnership places a strong emphasis on equitable global collaboration, with institutions in low- and middle-income countries playing a central role in identifying, leading, and delivering research.

Dr Edmund Newman, Director of the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team, said: “This announcement is brilliant news as it ushers in a new phase for UK-PHRST, 10 years after it was first set up.”

“Thanks to funding provided by the UK Department of Health and Social Care and in partnership with National Institute of Health Research, this renewed research consortium will continue our commitment to shared leadership to sustainably prevent and support response to global health emergencies through operational research.”

By bringing together expertise from across disciplines and regions, the consortium will generate evidence to help countries prevent outbreaks from escalating into larger public health emergencies.