The partners are tackling challenges ranging from data governance (using a federated storage-based approach), platform and model development (empowering community-driven model development) to interpretation of signals working with local governments and translation to actionable insights, equity, funding and implementation. It is expected that this partnership will have an outsized impact in the Global South — as 75% of Pasteur Network members work in laboratories for the ministries of health in the low and middle-income countries (LMICs) — with an initial focus on vector-borne diseases of dengue virus and malaria.
“This partnership marks an important step toward unlocking untapped potential across a leading global infectious disease network,” said Dr. Rebecca Grais, executive director of Pasteur Network. “Unlocking network potential can transform separate initiatives into a global engine of discovery and more equitable, actionable public health information.”
GeoSeeq is designed to overcome cross-border data-sharing challenges and preserve data sovereignty while still allowing data to be indexed and connected on a common platform. With this capability, the partners anticipate connecting more than 40 million data points over the next three years. This will drive new collaborations, facilitate discovery and enhance response to infectious disease threats. It will also enable impactful data-driven health responses, create new infectious disease dashboards for ministries of health and support the development of novel therapeutics, biological discoveries and vaccine design.
“Through this partnership, we are launching an ambitious, open and dedicated international effort,” said Dr. Christopher Mason, president and cofounder of the GeoSeeq Foundation. “Pathogens move readily across nations’ borders; thus, collaboration should also seamlessly move internationally between scientists, physicians and policymakers. This partnership is an essential step toward making this vision a reality.”
“Too often, groups feel isolated in their fight against infectious diseases,” said Dr. Amadou Sall, director general of Institut Pasteur de Dakar and president of Pasteur Network. “This partnership helps to level the playing field, providing support and tools for local groups to tackle regional problems that affect their local communities.”
About Pasteur Network
The Pasteur Network is a vast human and scientific community with more than 30 members in over 20 countries contributing together to global health. Located in the heart of endemic areas, the network has privileged access to a large number of pathogens that it monitors and studies on all five continents. This exceptional diversity makes the Pasteur Network a unique global actor in public health, science, innovation and education, especially in the fight against infectious diseases.
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About GeoSeeq Foundation
GeoSeeq Foundation is a nonprofit empowering infectious disease researchers and public health agencies globally to track, understand and control infectious disease threats.
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Media Contact
Juliette Hardy, Pasteur Network, +33 6 19 36 46 45, [email protected], Pasteur-network.org
Lathum Nelson, GeoSeeq Foundation, (385) 743-1724, [email protected], https://www.geoseeq.com/
SOURCE Pasteur Network
