NSF PIPP-PREP Workshop, February 2021
About
The NSF Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention (PIPP) Workshop – Pandemic Readiness for Emerging Pathogens (PREP) was held on February 16 and 17, 2021, in a virtual online format. Organized by Drs. Nian Sun, Christine Kreuder Johnson, Urbashi Mitra, and Brian Wood, the workshop fostered scientific discussion to significantly enhance our understanding of the challenges and potential solutions to rapid detection and assessment of emerging pathogens through advanced biosensors, surveillance, modern data analytics such as machine learning, and the tracking of human and non-human populations for risk modeling and pandemic preparedness.
This transdisciplinary workshop to catalyze innovation and partnerships had over 750 participants from academia, government, industry, and non-governmental organizations, incorporating research disciplines drawn from four NSF directorates: Engineering (ENG), Biological Sciences (BIO), Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), and Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE).
PREP focused on four challenges:
- Rapid and Accurate Detection and Assessment of Emerging Pathogens
- Monitoring Environmental Change, Animal Movements, and High-Risk Interfaces for Disease Transmission
- Monitoring Human Movements and At-Risk Communities for Disease Transmission and Spread
- Data-Intensive Machine Learning and Modeling for Pandemic Preparedness.
This workshop brought together specialists who are advancing rapid pathogen detection, biosensing, and the tracking of human and animal populations for the purpose of risk modeling and pandemic preparedness. The goal of the workshop was to produce a roadmap for research investments to address key technical and scientific challenges for pandemic prevention. View the workshop summary and recordings to learn more.
This workshop was funded by National Science Foundation awards 2113898, 2113924, 2113909, and 2113879.