Global Coalition Leads Way in Pandemic Preparedness

Abbott coalition uses data science & global collaboration for outbreak prediction, transforms pandemic preparedness.

Products and Innovation|Oct. 21, 2024

As the world looks to the future, a new global, collaborative effort has taken shape. Across continents and oceans, the united front the world saw five years ago has continued in the form of a coalition of scientists and public health experts hard at work in advancing pandemic preparedness. Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition (The Coalition), is harnessing cutting-edge data science, advanced diagnostics, and especially global collaborations to revolutionize our approach to predicting and tracking infections. 

In a recent interview with Economic Times, Dr. Gavin Cloherty, head of infectious disease research at APDC explains exactly how a collaborative approach is allowing insight into potential viral outbreaks.

“COVID-19 taught us that no one organization, network or country is enough to effectively fight against viral pathogens,” expands Dr. Cloherty. “We must have an ongoing global commitment to pandemic preparedness, and key to that is collaboration across the private and public sectors for ongoing surveillance, early detection and rapid response to emerging threats. “

It is almost like a hive mind approach - a network of highly trained eyes and ears on the ground monitoring outbreak hotspots worldwide. This mega viral radar system has only come through eyes across the globe, brought together in an effort to prepare for a possible outbreak in the future. This mindset extends to growing the world's "virus-hunting workforce" through initiatives like the Training Programs in Epidemiology and Public Health Intervention Network (TEPHINET), boosting recruitment and training endeavors for epidemiologists.

Deploying Virus Hunters Where They’re Needed The Most 

An effective way to fight future pandemics is to prevent them from ever sparking in the first place. The Coalition is taking its advanced virus-hunting capabilities to those communities where outbreaks are most likely to originate. 

In India, they've joined forces with local groups like YRGCARE to tackle HIV and hepatitis among underserved populations through widespread testing and outreach. Boots-on-the-ground field teams visit viral hot spots providing screening and health services that account for India's diverse healthcare landscape. 

Climate Proofing The Future of Health

As a member of the Climate Amplified Disease and Epidemics (CLIMADE) consortium, The Coalition is enhancing surveillance capabilities to address the rising threat of climate-amplified diseases in certain parts of the world. Techniques like digital monitoring of viral genomic data combined with environmental factors aim to predict how climate change may exacerbate outbreaks.

“One way that the coalition is monitoring the impact of the changing climate on disease outbreaks is by looking at viral sequences through phylogenetics — or looking back at the genetic ancestry of organisms — to track how viruses have traveled from one region of the world to another. By combining this information with environmental data, coalition scientists are able to better understand viral trends and more closely predict a virus’ future development.” explains Dr. Cloherty. 

A Unified Front against Pandemics

At its core, Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition is built around bringing in collective intelligence— the world's top minds, to oppose the shape-shifting threat that a pandemic represents. Their formula brings together an array of top expertise - elite scientists, public health professionals, data scientists and outreach teams - working as one cohesive group with innovative tools and a unanimous ethos/ vision towards healthcare. 

Their mission makes one thing crystal clear: If a pandemic level threat were to appear again, we will be better prepared to face it.