Background

 
Genomics and evolutionary biology now provide major tools used in the surveillance and study of infectious diseases. However, to a large extent, the communities involved in genomic surveillance and traditional epidemiological modelling speak different languages, and this limits their interaction. 
 
Over the course of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, tools from both fields have been applied extensively in tracking both the original virus and the multiple mutants that have arisen. Genetics and evolutionary biology have been particularly important in the latter case, as the evolution of pathogens and their hosts has been an active field of study in these disciplines for many years. Despite this long history, this pandemic has revealed that our ability to predict the evolutionary trajectories of pathogens in the sort of complex epidemiological situations observed in the real world is limited, especially when they are adapting to a novel host. However, phylogenetic tools have allowed important conclusions about the spread of specific mutants to be made retrospectively, and provided independent validation of estimates made with traditional epidemic modelling tools on a similar timescale. 
 
The integration of phylogenetic and epidemiological modelling tools can go much further than simply allowing validation of each other's estimates. A body of work has built up explicitly merging the two approaches, allowing epidemiological and phylogenetic models to be implemented together to coestimate important parameters of epidemics. Further communication between epidemiological modellers and computational biologists would allow both the further development of these methods and the expansion of their use.

This virtual event was guided by links with the JUNIPER Consortium and is delivered by the RAMP Continuity Network, the follow-on to the Royal Society’s Rapid Assistance in Modelling the Pandemic (RAMP) initiative. It brought together modelling expertise from a diverse range of disciplines to support the pandemic modelling community already working on COVID-19. 
 

Aims and Objectives
 

This one-day virtual workshop aimed to facilitate communication between epidemiological modellers and computational and evolutionary biologists. This was done by giving an overview of important topics in pathogen evolution and adaptation, as well as discussing tools available to merge epidemiological and genomic data and providing case studies of their use in the infectious disease research. 
 
Participants had the opportunity to raise questions following each presentation. There was also a facilitated Q&A Discussion at the end of the day where individuals had the opportunity to table further questions and share thinking.
 

Programme and Registration

 
Registration for this event is now closed. You can view slides and recordings from the event on the programme page.