Last week the Pandemic and Disaster Preparedness Center (PDPC) joined the 14th European Congress on Tropical Medicine and International Health (#ECTMIH2025) themed Better Health for All in a Changing World. The congress took place in Hamburg, hosted by the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine. Over 1,500 participants came together to share and discuss cutting-edge research on global infectious diseases, emerging infections, One Health, and international health.

During the congress, the PDPC organized a scenario-based workshop in which participants were invited to practice integrated advice and decision-making. Key insights from the workshop included:

1. Pandemic preparedness requires new forms of collaboration. At PDPC, we are developing ways to bring together experts from the biomedical and societal domains to provide integral advice for policymakers.
2. During a pandemic, data and insights from different disciplines are needed. That’s why it’s crucial to incorporate several perspectives for policy advice.

One of the participants shared: “This workshop helped me gain a better understanding of both the biomedical and societal perspectives during a pandemic, and how each shapes the measures we take.”

As part of the recently launched UNITY project, PDPC will continue developing a new framework to better integrate scientific knowledge into policymaking.

Interested in more integrated advice research? Visit our Integrated Science for Policy website and read more about the UNITY project.