JUNIPER members recognised for their work on SPI-M-O during COVID-19 Pandemic
JUNIPER members along with the other participants of SPI-M-O have been awarded the prestigious Weldon Memorial Prize for their epidemiological modelling work that supported the policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Weldon Prize is awarded by the University of Oxford annually for “noteworthy contributions to the development of mathematical or statistical methods applied to problems in Biology”. It is the first time in its 111 year history that it has been awarded to a group of researchers rather than an individual. The award committee said: ‘Under great pressure to deliver results quickly, and under immense public scrutiny, the group both built on existing science and developed new epidemiological and statistical techniques to understand the spread of the virus and how it might be controlled. The importance of good and timely disease modelling for policymakers has never been as clear.’
The award was accepted on behalf of SPI-M-O by Professor Graham Medley (LSHTM) and JUNIPER co-lead Professor Julia Gog (University of Cambridge) who jointly delivered the Weldon Lecture at Oxford Museum of Natural History on 14th Nov 2022.
Speaking about the award, JUNIPER co-lead Professor Julia Gog said: ‘I was delighted to jointly receive this award with the SPI-M-O group. The fact that the award recognised the entire group rather than an individual reflects the importance of the combined efforts of epidemic modellers during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was great to see so many JUNIPER members at the event. The JUNIPER consortium played a central role in connecting researchers at different institutions into a cohesive network with a collaborative way of working at its heart.’
You can read more coverage of the award at JUNIPER member institutions: University of Warwick, University of Bristol, Lancaster University, MRC Biostatistics Unit.
Pictured above: JUNIPER members (from left to right) Ellen Brooks-Pollock, Petra Klepac, Matt Keeling, Graham Medley, Julia Gog, Jon Read, Dani DeAngelis, Lorenzo Pellis, Deirdre Holingsworth