Background
Better understanding of the transmission of COVID-19 is a key factor in managing risk and designing practical interventions. The Royal Society’s Rapid Assistance in Modelling the Pandemic (RAMP) initiative brought modelling expertise from a diverse range of disciplines to support the pandemic modelling community already working on Coronavirus (COVID-19), including on environmental and aerosol transmission. With the reduction of lockdown restrictions over the next few months, insights into areas such as the role of ventilation and the impact of people moving around within buildings are particularly timely.
Developed by the Newton Gateway in its key role in the RAMP Continuity Network (a UKRI funded project), this event brought together academics from multiple disciplines and key stakeholders. This project was guided by links with groups such as the JUNIPER consortium and the Isaac Newton Institute Infectious Dynamics of Pandemics research programme and ensured relevance to current UK policy, and ensured engagement with the wider mathematical modelling and epidemiology communities.
Aims and Objectives
Building on the work begun by RAMP, this three-day science meeting reviewed existing work and identified where further research is most urgently needed. The meeting included a standalone public-facing component providing an accessible overview of the latest science, alongside scientific talks and discussion sessions targeting active researchers.
The aims of the meeting were:
i) Bring together a wide range of participants to maximise the engagement from different communities.
ii) Better inform the public on the science underlying viral transmission.
iii) Progress the most promising areas of research, and reach consensus on future research directions and research activity.
A programme of this past event is now available. Please follow the link.
On Tuesday 27th April, there were public-facing talks by:
- Professor Lidia Morawska (Queensland University of Technology) talked about “Airborne transmission of respiratory infections: beyond COVID-19”.
- Professor Cath Noakes OBE (University of Leeds) talked about “Understanding COVID-19 transmission mechanisms and uncertainties”.
Plus Magazine has written an enlightening article that discusses some of the key points presented at this event.
Posters
Attendees were able to submit and present posters during this event. You can access poster information below:
Breakout Discussions
Each day, the meeting broke out into discussions on particular topics. Feedback from these discussions are available below:
