ZEW Is Part of the Leibniz Lab for Pandemic Preparedness
ResearchThe Leibniz Lab 'Pandemic Preparedness' Brings Together Excellent Inter- and Transdisciplinary Research
The new Leibniz Lab “Pandemic Preparedness: One Health, One Future” connects excellent inter- and transdisciplinary research from 41 Leibniz institutes. For the first time, pathogen-oriented sciences and life sciences nationwide cooperate with health economics and educational research. This new instrument of the Leibniz Association is funded with three million euros for three years. The aim is to consolidate research efforts in the mentioned fields to prepare for, prevent and respond to future pandemics and to provide policymakers with the knowledge gained.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, it became evident that health economics plays a key role in managing this and future pandemics. Efficient market design can help countries better prepare for and handle such crises. I am therefore very pleased that ZEW is part of the new interdisciplinary Leibniz Lab working on pandemic prevention strategies,” says ZEW President Professor Achim Wambach.
Leibniz Lab connects research disciplines
“In the Leibniz Lab, we will bring together nationwide unique expertise from Leibniz institutes to study respiratory pathogens (viruses, bacteria, and fungi) and their impact on acute disease progression as well as potential long-term consequences. This pooling of knowledge has long been overdue, considering that most pandemics in the past were caused by respiratory pathogens, especially influenza viruses,” says Professor Gülşah Gabriel, head of the Viral Zoonoses – One Health Department at the Leibniz Institute for Virology and spokesperson of the Leibniz Lab.
“Future pandemics must not again lead to children and adolescents accumulating significant learning deficits and showing increased psychosomatic issues. That is why the work of educational and spatial research within the Leibniz Lab aims to generate knowledge on how educational institutions can best fulfil their educational, care and pedagogical duties during a pandemic,” says Professor Olaf Köller, managing director of research at the Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education (IPN) in Kiel and co-speaker of the Leibniz Lab.
“Pandemics are a global challenge: neither their prevention nor an efficient response to future pandemics can succeed if countries act in isolation,” explains Dr. Michael Stolpe, head of the Global Health Economy research programme at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and co-speaker of the Leibniz Lab. “In the new Leibniz Lab, we aim to learn how to enhance the resilience of our health system and best utilise scarce medical resources to save lives during a pandemic. We also want to develop proposals for stronger international collaboration both in preparation for and in response to future pandemics.”
