A protocol for a living mapping review of global research funding for infectious diseases with a pandemic potential – PANDEMIC PACT

Abstract

The COVID CIRCLE initiative Research Project Tracker by UKCDR and GloPID-R and associated living mapping review (LMR) showed the importance of sharing and analysing data on research at the point of funding to improve coordination during a pandemic. This approach can also help with research preparedness for outbreaks and hence our new programme the Pandemic Preparedness: Analytical Capacity and Funding Tracking Programme (Pandemic PACT) has been established. The LMR described in this protocol will provide an open, accessible, near-real-time overview of the funding landscape for a wide range of infectious disease and pandemic preparedness research using a rich database. The underpinning database will feed into an online funding tracking dashboard, with visualisations and advanced exploration features. The database is the expansion of the previous UKCDR and GloPID-R COVID-19 Research Project database with addition of the priority diseases from the WHO Blueprint list plus initial additions of pandemic influenza, mpox and plague. We have captured as much information as possible about grants and their outputs and ensured that our metadata and database is aligned to the FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reproducible) principles by design. Prior to the public release, the data are processed by researchers and supported with artificial intelligence to create a curated data product. We anticipate that the database, this associated LMR and online funding tracking dashboard, will be a useful resource for funders, policy makers and researchers. In the future, our work will inform a more coordinated approach to research funding by providing evidence and data, including identification of gaps in funding allocation with a particular focus on low- and middle-income countries.