The Pathogen Epidemiology Review Group (PERG) under the leadership of Dr Anne Cori, are undertaking an ambitious project to make key epidemiological information widely accessible in a standardised and easy-to-access way. This will help the global research and policy community to rapidly access the latest and best available evidence during future epidemics, so that they can act as quickly and effectively as possible.
PERG are undertaking a series of systematic literature reviews for nine pathogens identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as most likely to cause a future epidemic or pandemic. The aim is to create a central standardised database of epidemiological parameters to aid in the design and implementation of modelling, initially focusing on these nine WHO priority pathogens, but with a possibility to later further expand. PERG is a key collaborator of the WHO Global Repository of Epidemic Parameter project of the recently formed WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence.
PERG is designing an interface that presents the data in a clear, user-friendly and synthetic way. In addition, an accompanying R package, epireview, is developed as a key component of this work. By maximising the usability and dissemination of the information that is being collected, we aim for all outputs to be 1) easy for policy-makers and the broader scientific community to access; and 2) always kept up to date with new information added when available.
Playlist of PERG Science in Context episodes
Ebola Virus Disease
Science in Context episode with Dr Juliette Unwin
In this episode of Science In Context, Dr Thomas Rawson speaks with Dr Juliette Unwin about epidemiological parameters and mathematical models for Ebola virus disease. The Pathogen Epidemiology Review Group (PERG) recently published a systematic review providing the most complete picture of Ebola understanding to date.
Marburg Virus Disease
Science in Context episode with Gina Cuomo-Dannenburg
In this episode of Science In Context, Dr Sabine van Elsland speaks with Gina Cuomo-Dannenburg about Marburg Virus Disease and the first publication in a series of systematic reviews on outbreaks, mathematical models and disease parameters of nine infectious diseases prioritized on the WHO blueprint list.
Pathogen Epidemiology Review Group
Science in Context episode with Dr Anne Cori
In this episode of Science In Context, Dr Sabine van Elsland speaks with Dr Anne Cori about the pathogen epidemiology review group, their R Package EpiReview and the catalogue for mathematical modelling parameters which aims to facilitate rapid response to potential outbreaks of nine WHO priority pathogens.
PERG team
Dr Sangeeta Bhatia
Dr Sangeeta Bhatia
Visiting Researcher
Ms Gina Cuomo-Dannenburg
Ms Gina Cuomo-Dannenburg
Research Postgraduate
Dr Patrick Doohan
Dr Patrick Doohan
Research Associate
Dr Ilaria Dorigatti
Dr Ilaria Dorigatti
Senior Lecturer & Sir Henry Dale Fellow
Dr Sabine van Elsland
Dr Sabine van Elsland
WHO Liaison | External Relationships and Communications Manager
Dr Richard FitzJohn
Dr Richard FitzJohn
Principal Architect, Research Software Engineering Group
Dr Keith Fraser
Dr Keith Fraser
Research Associate
Ms Anna-Maria Hartner
Ms Anna-Maria Hartner
Research Assistant
Dr Joseph Hicks
Dr Joseph Hicks
Research Associate in Malaria Epidemiology
Dr Natsuko Imai-Eaton
Dr Natsuko Imai-Eaton
Honorary Senior Research Fellow
Dr Rob Johnson
Dr Rob Johnson
Research Associate
Dr David Jorgensen
Dr David Jorgensen
Research Associate
Mantra Kusumgar
Mantra Kusumgar
Research Software Engineer
Dr Sequoia Leuba
Dr Sequoia Leuba
Research Associate in Malaria Epidemiology
Mr Paul Lietar
Mr Paul Lietar
Senior Research Software Engineer
Dr Ruth McCabe
Dr Ruth McCabe
WHO Liaison
Ms Kelly McCain
Ms Kelly McCain
Research Postgraduate
Mr Christian Morgenstern
Mr Christian Morgenstern
Research Assistant, PhD Student
Mr Tristan Naidoo
Mr Tristan Naidoo
Research Postgraduate
Ms Rebecca Nash
Ms Rebecca Nash
Research Postgraduate
Ms Dariya Nikitin
Ms Dariya Nikitin
Research Postgraduate
Ms Kanchan Parchani
Ms Kanchan Parchani
Research Assistant
Dr Thomas Rawson
Dr Thomas Rawson
Research Associate
Dr Shazia Ruybal
Dr Shazia Ruybal
Research Associate
Mr Cosmo Santoni
Mr Cosmo Santoni
Technical Analyst
Dr Richard Sheppard
Dr Richard Sheppard
Research Associate
Dr Juliette Unwin
Dr Juliette Unwin
Visiting Researcher
Ms Anna Vicco
Ms Anna Vicco
PhD Student
Emeritus team
Aaron Morris | Ed Knock | Lorenzo Cattarino |
Alpha Forna | Hayley Thompson | Mara Kont |
Amy Dighe | Isobel Routledge | Marc Baguelin |
Arran Hamlet | Janetta Skarp | Pablo Perez Guzman |
Ben Lambert | Kelly Charniga | Paula Christen |
Bethan Cracknell Daniels | Kieran Drake | Sreejith Radhakrishnan |
Charlie Whittaker | Lily Geidelberg | Zulma Cucunuba Perez |
Cyril Geismar |
Contact us
For any enquiries related to the MRC Centre please contact:
Scientific Manager
Susannah Fisher
mrc.gida@imperial.ac.uk
External Relationships and Communications Manager
Dr Sabine van Elsland
s.van-elsland@imperial.ac.uk