16 million people have been victims of Covid-19. This pandemic has reminded the world of the need to predict the appearance of viruses in order to better treat them. In this spirit, the National Scientific Foundation has just invested 72 M$ in predictive health.

At 14e century, 75 to 200 million people worldwide died after being infected with the bubonic plague, known as the Black Death. In the 20th century, between 1918 and 1919, the Spanish flu killed 30 to 50 million people in a few months. Identified in May 1983, the HIV virus has now claimed more than 42 million victims. The first major pandemic of the 21st century, Covid-19, or SARS-CoV-2, has killed 16 million people worldwide in 3 years.

The list of victims of pandemics that have cast a shadow over the history of humanity is long. And despite the successes of research and medicine, the pace is not slowing down or even accelerating, driven by the increasing mobility of infected populations.

AI, a new major ally for prediction

With the emergence of AI, a new opportunity to fight pandemics has emerged: predictive health ; or how, thanks in particular to data analysis,  anticipate, identify and prepare for the arrival of a highly transmissible disease.

Aware of the major health issue, but also economic (the death of millions of people has always impacted production), some have begun a real crusade against these often mutating and large-scale killer viruses.

4 targeted inter-university research centers

This is the case of the National Science Foundation of the United States. (NSF) which has just announced that it has invested 72 million dollars to create four multi-university research centers in the United States dedicated to the prediction and prevention of pandemics. at the same time as training the next generation of scientists who will undoubtedly continue this work.

Multidisciplinary teams

The investment is part of NSF’s Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention program, which was launched during the COVID-19 pandemic. The funded research, conducted by multidisciplinary teams, will aim to develop techniques to predict and mitigate future pandemics, whether they affect animals, plants or humans.

Predict to prevent and respond to threats

The four funded projects will bring together experts from several fields to target three main areas:

  • improve environmental monitoring,
  • moving from data analysis to decision making,
  • and understand the interactions between hosts and pathogens.

Concretely, it involves bringing together around the table experts in biology, computer science, artificial intelligence and engineering, mainly.

The goal can be summed up in three words: "predict, prevent and respond" to potential pandemics in all forms of life, according to Sethuraman Panchanathan, director of the NSF.

“Crucial investment »

“Research into emerging infectious diseases is a critical investment in our future and requires a collaborative approach that spans multiple disciplines and sectors, while integrating the latest tools and technologies.” Sethuraman Panchanathan

A health investment, but also an economically interested one since its initiators expect in return a gain in terms of health, of course, but also “economic stability and security”.