Project summary

A 4-week introductory syllabus focussing on specific interventions that can help prevent future pandemics targeted at a broad audience. The content can be used as part of a discussion group, and the website acts as a resource bank. The initial version of the syllabus was put together in October-November 2023, and an initial pilot was run in November-December 2023.

Content covered:

• Week 1: Technological advances (advances in biotechnology, dual use research of concern, use of artificial intelligence)

• Week 2: Biological/biotech interventions (metagenomic sequencing, point of care diagnostics, vaccine technologies)

• Week 3: Engineering interventions (personal protective equipment, germicidal ultraviolet, ventilation systems)

• Week 4: Policy interventions and pandemic modelling (national policy interventions, modelling pandemic spread and intervention effects, international coordination)
  

What are this project's goals? How will you achieve them?

The goals of planned work to be covered by this grant is to:  

• Update the existing content to reflect advances in the last year (for example in the overlap between AI and biosecurity)

• Improve the user experience of the website so that people new to biosecurity and pandemic preparedness can navigate it and get key information more easily

• Put together a facilitator guide to make it easier for other people to run the course. 

Overall the syllabus allows people to get a brief background on specific interventions which might have a high impact in preventing future pandemics, acting as a jumping off point for further research or reading. It is shorter than some other courses and reading lists, which is more likely to be accessible to people who are new to an area, and the focus on interventions might reach additional people who would not already be searching explicitly for a 'biosecurity' course. Further next steps (including linking to the Bluedot Impact Biosecurity Fundamentals course) are recommended.

By the end of the syllabus the participant will: 

• Have some background in a range of different pandemic preparedness interventions, including their pros and cons and some policy considerations involved

• Learn about some organisations working in the space and the type of work that they are doing (hint: look at who is writing the linked readings)

• Get an idea of several ways that they can get started with a career in pandemic preparedness

For more detailed rationale, please see the EA Forum announcement. 

How will this funding be used?

This funding would cover my time to update the syllabus and website, put together a more detailed facilitator guide to help other groups run the course, cover associated website costs for future years, and potentially create additional resources. Breakdown below: 

Mainline: 

Time to cover updates to facilitator guide and content = $3000

Website hosting/domain costs ($50/year for 2 years) = $100

Trialling targeted ads OR 10-15 hrs spent on additional targeted outreach = $500

Total mainline: $3600

Stretch: 

Additional changes and developing further content (likely to include: more detailed potential pathways to get into biosecurity), assuming spending 50% additional time to the mainline = $1500

Rebuilding/redesigning the website, and spending above the minimum of website costs (redesign costs would either be my time, or contracting someone else to do it. There is a large range here, and based on the lower end of prices in this guide) = $1000 

Total stretch (including mainline above): $6100

Who is on your team? What's your track record on similar projects?

Lin Bowker-Lonnecker

Biosecurity course/facilitator experience (for other experience see LinkedIn above): 

• Already put together the initial version of Pandemic Interventions Course and run an initial pilot

• Previously facilitated another pandemics course (SERI BITS)
  

What are the most likely causes and outcomes if this project fails?

The website already exists, and has previously been announced on the EA Forum and shared with several EA and biosecurity groups. However, the most likely reasons that the project may have a lower impact than it otherwise would, and how to reduce the chance of this, are given below. 

The website becomes out of date: 

While background information about particular interventions are unlikely to change very frequently, in certain areas there are likely to be technological advances (for example in AI and biosecurity), and/or better summaries may become available. 

How much I update and review the content depends on how much time I can spend on it, which will be much less without funding being available.

The course does not run again: 

The main reason that I did not run the course again previously is that after reviewing the results from both pilots, I was likely to have a considerably higher impact spending more time running Oxford Biosecurity Group and therefore prioritised working on that. I would spend some (but less) time to ensure that the website remains a valuable resource, and encourage others including EA Groups to run the course and use the website as a resource bank.

There has been some interest from other groups to run the course, and there is likely to be more if I spend some time promoting this. More resources, particularly a facilitator guide, will help people run the course and will therefore increase the chance of the course being run again. Even if it is not run again as a course, the content will still exist as a resource bank to direct people to. 

Few people see the website: 

There was an announcement post on the EA Forum, as well as linked in some other locations (e.g. on the Nordic Biosecurity Group website). Improving the website, spending time on SEO, and spending more time promoting it increases the chance of more people seeing the website.

What other funding are you or your project getting?

No funding has previously been received for this project, and this work will be done in my free time.