Research Centre PandemiX Center

Using contemporary health registries and historical data sources, The PandemiX Center combines data analysis and interdisciplinary expertise to gain new understanding of pandemics. Our ambition is to prepare the world for the next pandemic through interdisciplinary work within the fields of medical history, epidemiology, demography, geography, mathematical modelling, bioinformatics, and other. As a bonus, the historical health data we identify are digitized and made available for other researchers and for advanced students interested in doing pandemic research projects.

The PandemiX Center sets out to explore the dynamics and impact of emerging infectious diseases, with an eye towards pandemic preparedness and policy implications. Our research span multiple scientific disciplines at the Department of Science and Environment. Our methods include mathematical modelling, epidemiological analyses, bioinformatics, as well as investigations into of the historical, societal, and environmental context. We wish to understand past pandemics, and how they were affected by societal institutions, lifestyle, urban/rural geography, economy, and migration. Also, we study how, in turn, pandemics and epidemic diseases helped shape modern society. Finally, we focus on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which is an unique opportunity to observe a pandemic in real time with an amazing amount of data. This work includes theoretical modelling work, as well as analysis of observational data to quantify the effect of mitigation strategies, such as the COVID-19 vaccine and other biomedical interventions and the global patterns of impact and trajectory.

The purpose of PandemiX Center is to:

• Conduct interdisciplinary research in infectious disease epidemiology, using current and historic data to gain novel insights about past, present and future pandemics
• Use mathematical and statistical models to investigate patterns and impact of human pandemics and the effect of mitigation strategies
• Create a mathematical epidemiology research environment to support Danish health authorities in the context of COVID-19 and future pandemics
• Secure robust insights about context, through interdisciplinary collaborations within center members, and external collaborations with social science and the humanities colleagues
• Mentor the next generation of students in quantitative science in infectious disease modelling (mathematical modelling and digital humanities)