Aviva funding of £225k enables 8 research projects with The Pandemic Institute

The Pandemic Institute (TPI) in Liverpool has announced eight diverse research projects to assess the longer-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on UK and global health have been awarded funding following a £225k donation by the UK’s leading insurer Aviva. The investment by Aviva aims to build strong, sustainable, resilient communities that are better prepared for future crisis events on the scale of COVID-19 pandemic.

Many innovative research applications were received following the Institute’s funding call in September 2022, inviting project proposals from founding partner institutions including the University of Liverpool, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Liverpool City Council.

Aviva’s funding will also enable six other research projects to take place, which are: Hierarchical forecasting models for COVID-19 bed occupancy and admissions for individual NHS Trusts. Principal Leads: Dr Christopher Overton & Dr Emily Nixon, University of Liverpool.

What are the long-term impacts and implications of the pandemic on accessing and using health and social care for dementia? Principal Lead: Dr Clarissa Giebel, University of Liverpool.

Estimating excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Cheshire and Merseyside. Principal Lead: Dr Xingna Zhang, Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool. Exploring the role of social and community trust in responses to the COVID-19 pandemic to inform future community pandemic preparedness and resilience in Malawi. Principal Lead: Dr Nicola Desmond, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

Supply chain risk management during a pandemic: a public / private-partnership insurance solution. Principal Lead: Dr Hossein Sharifi, Reader in Operations and Supply Chain Management, University of Liverpool.

Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 response on the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ people in Merseyside: A rapid assessment to inform support needs, strengthening of resilience, and inclusive responses to future pandemics. Principal Lead: Prof Vivian Hope, Professor of Public Health, Liverpool John Moores University.

The Pandemic Institute aims to build strong, sustainable, resilient communities that are better prepared for future crisis events on the scale of COVID-19 pandemic. The Pandemic Institute has a strategic focus on emerging infections and future pandemic threats including influenza and Mpox, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever to Ebola and Japanese encephalitis.

Professor Tom Solomon CBE, director of The Pandemic Institute, says: “We are very proud to announce these eight research projects into differing strands of COVID-19, which have been made possible by Aviva’s generous grant. This will help us take further steps forward in continuing to tackle COVID-19 and also to be better prepared for the future.

“The work we do from Liverpool has national and international impact and being able to further expand our research through these eight submissions will help keep us at the fore of the challenges around and solutions to COVID-19 and how best to recover from a pandemic.”

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

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