@hpruezi.bsky.social
West Nile virus: What is it and how are we preparing? Researchers in Liverpool are working to strengthen UK preparedness - from mosquito surveillance to vaccine development - to stop outbreaks before they start.
Read more: www.thepandemicinstitute.org/news/west-ni...
#WestNileVirus #WestNile
A news title card that reads ’First evidence in the UK of breeding aegypti mosquito – the main spreader of dengue, chikungunya and Zika’ with an image of an aegypti mosquito on a person’s skin.
First evidence in the UK of breeding aegypti mosquito – the main spreader of dengue, chikungunya and Zika.
Dr Marcus Blagrove writes for The Conversation highlighting the need for enhanced mosquito surveillance and proactive strategies to mitigate future risks.
bit.ly/3KKlGQP
#TeamLivUni
Two action-packed days at #TPI2025 brought together leaders from government, academia, health & industry to strengthen #PandemicPreparedness. A big thanks to all our attendees, speakers, sponsors and poster presenters!
03.10.2025 10:01 — 👍 3 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
Susan Hopkins gives the keynote speech: Preparing together: Public health and academic collaboration for pandemic resilience
Panel session: Strengthening health security through UKHSA academic collaboration
Susan Hopkins and Matt Ashton
Last week our CEO @smhopkins.bsky.social spoke at the @thepandemicinst.bsky.social about our mission to protect the UK against current and future health threats.
She stressed that pandemic preparedness means acting now to prevent what we can, and being ready to respond swiftly when necessary.
Great first day of our Scientific Meeting, hearing from a range of our funded projects plus colleagues from @ukhsa.bsky.social, FIND, Dstl, @cepi.net and more #TPI2025
01.10.2025 19:54 — 👍 8 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0
Dr Krishanthi Subramaniam recently shared her expertise on BBC Points of View, speaking about the recent programme 'Disease X: Hunting the Next Pandemic'. Watch from 7mins30: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
29.09.2025 12:41 — 👍 4 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0The 4th International Meeting on Arboviruses and their Vectors, IMAV, a Microbiology Society focus meeting, will take place in Hamburg, Germany, on September 1 & 2, 2026. Registration to open soon! Speakers in next post.
15.09.2025 21:53 — 👍 5 🔁 1 💬 2 📌 0
🎤 Talks by academics, inventors and writers!
🍄 Art installations!
🛼 Performances across the city!
🪨 British Science Festival X Liverpool Biennale!
👩🏽🔬 Meet the scientists!
Five FREE things to do at the British Science Festival this week! #BSF25 #Liverpool
www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/wha...
We're looking forward to taking part in this year's British Science Festival (@britsciassoc.bsky.social) this Sun 14th Sept at The Museum of Liverpool, with colleagues from @livuniengagehls.bsky.social. Join us from 11:30, all events are free! Find out more britishsciencefestival.org/event/nature...
09.09.2025 12:17 — 👍 6 🔁 6 💬 0 📌 0
Just one week to go until the British Science Festival opens in Liverpool! ✨
Talks, art, robots, music + more — all free to attend. More Info> news.liverpool.ac.uk/2025/09/03/c...
#BritishScienceFestival #BSF2025 #Liverpool
Title card with multicoloured stickers of roller derby players in action, some with different coloured shields with an antiviral symbol on it, with white text in the middle "Antiviral Roller Skating". The background is a greyscale graphic of viruses particles.
A photo of the cast reading the script at the fiest rehearsal, overlaid with text about the event which reads: "British Science Festival Liverpool 2025; University of Liverpool × Liverpool Roller Birds; Friday 12th September, 18.30, Unity Theatre - Theatre One.
📣 Introducing "Antiviral Roller Skating"! ✨️🦠🛼✨️
Debuting at the British Science Festival 2025 #BSF25 in Liverpool! Exploring viruses & antivirals through movement & play!
Friday 12 Sep, 18.30
@unitytheatre.bsky.social
FREE tickets: britishscienceassociation-tickets.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/...
Researchers from Liverpool recently featured in a BBC news item exploring the spread of West Nile Virus, and the research being undertaken in Liverpool to prepare for future outbreaks.
Read more: 'One mosquito bite dramatically changed my life'
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
@lstmnews.bsky.social researchers are testing spatial mosquito repellents - a promising new tool in the fight against malaria.
Read more - lstmed.ac.uk/news-events/news/spatial-mosquito-repellents-could-be-a-promising-new-malaria-prevention-tool
#malaria #globalhealth
Only 1 month to go! We’re counting down to The Pandemic Institute Scientific Meeting, 1& 2 October 2025, Liverpool.
Join leading voices in science, policy & health as we explore solutions to emerging threats & future pandemics.
🔗 Register now: www.thepandemicinstitute.org/collaborate/...
#TPI2025
Wastewater monitoring programme could catch pandemic threats early
We've announced a £1.3m programme to evaluate how wastewater monitoring could help detect a wide range of dangerous pathogens 🔬
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ukhsa-launches-development-programme-for-wastewater-monitoring-techniques-which-could-catch-pandemic-threats-early
First UK cases of Oropouche virus detected in travellers returning from Brazil
Oropouche virus is a lesser-known tropical infection that’s been spreading across Central and South America in recent years. It's carried by midges, although not those found in the UK or wider Europe.
Full details in our travel health news story: www.gov.uk/government/n...
With over 7,000 cases of #chikungunya reported in a major outbreak in China, @runningmadprof.bsky.social explains how the virus spreads, who’s most at risk, and why it’s unlikely to spark a COVID-style pandemic.
🔗 www.thepandemicinstitute.org/news/chikung... #Chikungunya #GlobalHealth
Fantastic news, congratulations Prof Semple!
03.07.2025 09:05 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Join @lshtm.bsky.social's 'Health Misinformation: UNPACKED' event this coming September, to hear from leading voices on how to understand and combat the rising tide of health misinformation in the UK.
Monday 15 Sept 2025
13:00-17:00
London
bit.ly/LSHTMHealthM...
Have you booked your place for Professor Christine Goffinet's Inaugural Lecture?
Register now - in person in Liverpool or online: lstm.ac/GoffinetInau....
We are offering an exciting opportunity for a clinical trainee to undertake a PhD in an area relating to outbreak prone infectious disease of public health importance or zoonoses: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNJ811/h...
09.06.2025 10:54 — 👍 8 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 1
A picture of a smartly dressed man speaking into a table microphone with text overlaid that reads: 'News, Public Health expert presents at Covid-19 inquiry'
NEWS | Prof Iain Buchan told the UK Covid-19 Inquiry what Liverpool’s testing pilot taught us, highlighting ways to handle future pandemics more effectively.
Read more ⬇️
news.liverpool.ac.uk/2025/05/19/l...
@profbuchan.bsky.social @liverpooluni.bsky.social @livunihls.bsky.social
Last week, Dr Caitlin Thompson and Dr Rachel Byrne, from @lstmnews.bsky.social, were invited to Buckingham Palace in recognition of their work as early careers researchers. Read more about their pioneering work on diagnostics here: www.thepandemicinstitute.org/news/early-c...
19.05.2025 09:25 — 👍 3 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
Five years on the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are continuing to reflect on its legacy for global health.
Dr Caitlin Thompson from LSTM and @thepandemicinst.bsky.social, reflects on the potential of the rapid diagnostics that became so widely used in the UK during COVID.
lstm.ac/42lvjeX
Last week we published our first annual report on infectious disease trends. 📊
The report brings together all the key data from 2023 to early 2025 and outlines the steps our organisation is taking to tackle these threats.
Read the full report 🔗🔽
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Great to be featured on BBC NW last night with @runningmadprof.bsky.social, Dr Subramaniam & @profbuchan.bsky.social talking about the work carried out in Liverpool during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the work we are doing to prepare for future pandemics
Watch from 13:23
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
You may have seen reports of the first case of #AvianInfluenza in sheep found on a UK farm.
Read our response from Dr Meera Chand, Emerging Infection Lead at UK Health Security Agency.
Read our blog post for more on avian influenza: ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2024/12/03/w...
#BirdFlu
Proud to lead the NIHR HPRU in Emerging & Zoonotic Infections, refunded for 5 more years with £5.5m. Since 2014, we've leveraged £10M to generate >£120m funding, trained 28 PhD/postdocs, and produced >500 publications. Vital in UK response to Ebola, Zika, and Covid-19. #InfectiousDiseases
18.03.2025 14:47 — 👍 7 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 2
Ahead of the COVID-19 Day of Reflection this coming Sunday 9 March, we're sharing some reflections from researchers on what it was like to pivot their work during the pandemic to help in the efforts to combat the disease.
www.thepandemicinstitute.org/news/the-pan...
Optimising testing and control strategies in the early stages of infectious disease outbreaks Supervisors: Dr Emily Nixon Professor Christl Donnelly Dr Richard Vipond Dr Emily Adams Research area: Maths and Computing Studying in: Department of Mathematical Sciences School of Physical Sciences Faculty of Science and Engineering Stipend Amount: Funded studentship Availability Region: Open to UK applicants Application Deadline: 24 March 2025
In the early stages of a major disease outbreak, the availability of suitable diagnostic tests is often limited, however, timely interventions are critical for controlling the spread of disease. In this PhD, you will develop mechanistic and statistical models to investigate the effectiveness of various diagnostic test deployment strategies for emerging and zoonotic diseases which are at risk of causing large outbreaks, such as respiratory viruses (Influenza, SARS-CoV-2, Respiratory syncytial virus), vector-borne diseases (Dengue, Tick-borne encephalitis) or viral haemorrhagic fevers (Nipah, Lassa fever and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever). You will investigate the effectiveness of targeting use of tests in different settings, for example in areas of high versus low transmission, or in hospitals versus the community. The optimum strategy for diagnostic test deployment will vary depending on prevalence of disease, the sensitivity and specificity of the tests and the time it takes to receive and act on results. In addition, variation between pathogens, for example, in their mode of transmission, reproduction number and incubation period, will influence which strategy is the most effective in controlling the impact of the outbreak. These insights will inform stockpiling strategies of medical countermeasures for pandemic preparedness and in the event of a major outbreak, can be used and adapted to help inform decision making.
You will be part of a supportive and stimulating research environment at the University of Liverpool, with Dr Emily Nixon as your primary supervisor, with additional supervision from Professor Christl Donnelly (Department of Statistics, University of Oxford), Dr Emily Adams (Pandemic Sciences Institute, University of Oxford) and Dr Richard Vipond (UK Health Security Agency). This studentship will be for a maximum of 3.5 years duration starting in October 2025; it includes fees at the UK/home rate, stipend, and research-related travel.
This is an exciting opportunity to work with a world leading team delivering research that is relevant to public health in the UK. This PhD opportunity is funded by the National Institute for Health and Social Care Research (NIHR) Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections (EZI). The successful candidate will therefore join the NIHR HPRU-EZI. NIHR is the UK's largest funder of health and care research and provides the people, facilities and technology that enables research to thrive. NIHR HPRUs undertake high quality research that enhances the ability of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to protect the public’s health and minimise the health impact of emergencies. There are 13 HPRUs across England. The HPRU-EZI is a partnership between the University of Liverpool, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), University of Oxford, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and UKHSA, in collaboration with University of Glasgow. HPRU-EZI has been running since 2014, and supports and strengthens UKHSA in its role protecting England from emerging infections and zoonoses (i.e. those which spread from animals to humans). HPRU-EZI has played significant roles in the past in the UK response to Ebola, Zika, COVID-19 and mpox. We will continue to address the major emerging threats; these are transmitted by mosquitoes and ticks (e.g. dengue and Lyme), the respiratory route (e.g. COVID-19 and influenza), or directly through contact (e.g. Lassa fever). For further details please see our brochure and our website: http://hpruezi.nihr.ac.uk/media/artlflhc/hpru-ezi-brochure.pdf http://hpruezi.nihr.ac.uk/
📣 Funded 3.5yr PhD opportunity for UK applicants in @hpruezi.bsky.social @liverpooluni.bsky.social. #PhDSky
🧪 On "Optimising testing & control strategies in the early stages of infectious disease outbreaks" #IDSky #EpiSky
⏳ Application deadline: 24 Mar 2025
🔗: www.liverpool.ac.uk/study/postgr...
