ZonMw is making 2.5 million euros available to the Netherlands Centre for One Health (NCOH) for research on pandemic preparedness. The application for the research was submitted through Utrecht University on behalf of the NCOH. The research follows a National Growth Fund application that the PDPC previously submitted together with the Netherlands Centre for One Health (NCOH). Marion Koopmans (PDPC, Erasmus MC), one of the four submitters: “We are extremely pleased that ZonMw has awarded this money. It is important that we learn from the corona pandemic and discover a possible new pandemic at an earlier stage. Cooperation between different disciplines plays a major role in this.”

Analyses of the corona pandemic revealed a number of shortcomings that this study aims to highlight. For example, there was a lack of early warning methods for emerging infectious diseases. It also proved difficult to reliably assess key characteristics of pathogens and not easy to measure airborne virus as part of transmission studies. Developments in the field of mathematical modeling are rapid. For example, models are becoming available to predict pathogen development. It is important to gain experience with these and further develop the models. And perhaps most importantly: the strategies for detecting pathogens in humans and animals currently run separately from each other. This needs to be different and more integrated.

Research for 24 postdocs

Marion Koopmans (PDPC, Erasmus MC), Dick Heederik (UU), Marc Bonten (UMC Utrecht) and Annemarie Rebel (Wageningen University & Research and president NCOH) jointly submitted the application from the NCOH. The money awarded will allow 24 postdocs to do one year of research.

Date: June 22, 2023