We’ve recently enjoyed hosting visitors from our partner Liverpool City Council, including Brownlow Hill councillors Heather Westhead & Tom Cardwell, plus Liam Robinson (Leader of Liverpool City Council) and Andrew Lewis (Chief Executive). The visit gave us an opportunity to discuss some of the achievements of The Pandemic Institute since it was formed in 2021, including:

• Supporting a portfolio of research worth more than £50m led by The Pandemic Institute’s investigators based at the University of Liverpool, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and Liverpool John Moores University.
• Establishing research industry partnerships with a value of more than £5m, strengthening the local economy and employment prospects. One such partnership is with CSL Seqirus, a global leader in influenza prevention. Together they are researching both the threat of seasonal influenza and the development of innovative approaches to pandemic preparedness and response.
• Awarding £3.6m in critical pandemic research funding, and responded rapidly to emerging infections such as Mpox, which was recently declared a global emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
• Providing funding towards the development of diagnostics for some of the world’s deadliest viruses including Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF). Transmitted by tick bites, it has a mortality rate of around 30% but there is currently no vaccine. Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine has developed a rapid point-of-care lateral flow test, as well as conducting clinical trials to assess a potential treatment.
• Supporting researchers at Liverpool John Moores University who are looking at health inequalities and resilience in communities during a pandemic, and how future responses can be tailored and improved.
• Investing in infrastructure including a new pre-clinical trials unit for testing new vaccines and treatments, based at the University of Liverpool.
• Providing critical advice and support on pandemic prevention and preparedness to the UK Health Security Agency, Department of Health and Social Care, and other government departments.

We also toured the Containment Level 3 laboratories, to showcase the facilities which formed an important role during the COVID-19 pandemic, and discussed our plans to develop new infrastructure in Liverpool to harness the combined expertise of the region. The planned Pandemic Preparedness and Response Facility in Liverpool will contain state-of-the-art research laboratories that will strengthen the UK’s infectious disease research and innovation capabilities.