At all levels, information will be recorded in a cloud-based data system that shares data in real time, allowing for the detection of trends and warning public health officials of threats at the earliest possible stage.

 

Pathogen surveillance is currently stymied by the practical and political challenges of data management, analysis, and sharing. Diagnostic, clinical, and epidemiological data are often generated independently, and in geographically disparate regions, subject to an array of regulatory environments, and analyzed with a variety of tools. We will address some of the major challenges to pathogen surveillance by:

1. enabling data integration and interpretation by local public health analysts,

2. demonstrating the value of genomic insights in real time; and

3. facilitating analysis across countries to enable more powerful insights.

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This will be accomplished through a cloud-based, access-controlled data system for pathogen surveillance and epidemic preparedness, based on a federated data repository ecosystem. This will be connected to mobile tools facilitating data capture in the field, and to intuitive and powerful data collection, analysis, and visualization tools, enabling healthcare workers, researchers, and disease control officials to track and even predict threats. The effect of this information system will be amplified through a virtuous cycle, in which detection of circulating pathogens informs the development of new frontline diagnostics, which further improve patient care and guide the prediction and management of future outbreaks.