Resilience to emerging infectious diseases and the importance of scientific innovation

This opinion piece emphasies the critical role of translational research in enhancing the UK's resilience against future pandemics. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the lifesaving potential of scientific innovation, including genomic tracking of SARS-CoV-2, vaccine development, data linkage, modelling, and new treatments. These advances, achieved through collaborations between academic institutions, industry, government, public health bodies, and the NHS, occurred at an unprecedented pace. However, the UK's pandemic preparedness planning, as reflected in the 2016 Exercise Cygnus report, notably lacked provision for scientific innovation. This oversight highlights the necessity of integrating innovation and research into future preparedness strategies, not as a luxury but as a vital component of the healthcare infrastructure. The COVID-19 pandemic has underlined the importance of surge capacity for diagnostic labs, vaccine development and deployment strategies, real-time research embedded within the NHS, efficient data sharing, clear public communication, and the use of genomic tools for outbreak surveillance and monitoring pathogen response. Despite world-leading aspects of some of the UK's research response, the need to build much of the infrastructure in real-time led to avoidable delays. A proactive approach in incorporating research and innovation into the NHS's operational framework will be needed to ensure swift, evidence-based responses to future pandemics.