History

Overview

JUNIPER was founded during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to connect multiple epidemiological modelling groups at different UK universities into a cohesive network that could provide coordination of the mathematical and statistical modelling of the COVID-19 response to interface with the UK government and the wider research community. JUNIPER was initially set up as a consortium of modelling groups from eight universities: University of Warwick, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of Bristol, University of Manchester, Lancaster university and University of Exeter. These teams of epidemiological modellers represented a core of committed and experienced research groups that generated predictions, forecasts and insights feeding into the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M) and the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), both of whom advised the UK government on scientific matters relating to the UK’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Achievements

In the first two years (2021-2022) of JUNIPER, the consortium achieved a huge amount. As well as contributing to the weekly forecasts of the reproduction number R and growth rate to UK government advisory groups, work directly from JUNIPER led to over 120 documents to SPI-M-O and 24 documents to SAGE. In addition to the work to support government advice JUNIPER also published more than 20 peer-reviewed papers. Four of our senior leadership team were awarded national honour in recognition of their significant contributions to the COVID-19 emergency (OBEs to Brooks Pollock, Gog, Keeling and Honorary MBE to De Angelis).

JUNIPER has always strived to be outward-facing and inclusive. During the COVID-19 emergency we ran three virtual research meetings, seven virtual public seminars, both of which were held by the Isaac Newton Institute <link to page about JUNIPER programme> to provide an open platform to interact with the wider research community. During 2021 and the first part of 2022 12 also worked closely with RAMP (Rapid Assistance in Modelling the Pandemic) and the Newton Gateway <link to newton gateway> to run focussed workshops to share open questions and current expertise with the wider research community. These opened up much of the accelerated research from the pandemic response by the UK and international research community, and JUNIPER acted as a route for researchers in adjacent fields to interface with epidemic modelling. Furthermore through our collaboration with Plus magazine and the Millennium Maths Project more than 40 written articles and a podcast series were produced to engage a wider public audience in the key research outcomes on current topics of public interest.

Below we have listed all those involved in the initial phase of JUNIPER. Please note position and affiliation are those during the period of 2021-2023 when JUNIPER was initially funded and may not be the current affiliation and position.

Principal Investigators: Professor Julia Gog (University of Cambridge), Professor Matt Keeling (University of Warwick)

Senior Scientific Programme Manager: Dr Ciara Dangerfield (University of Cambridge)

Co-Investigators: Dr Leon Danon (University of Bristol), Dr Lorenzo Pellis (University of Manchester), Dr Louise Dyson (University of Warwick), Dr Petra Klepac (University of Cambridge), Dr Robin Thompson (University of Warwick), Dr TJ McKinley (University of Exeter), Professor Christopher Jewell (Lancaster University), Professor Daniela De Angelis (University of Cambridge MRC Biostatistics Unit), Professor Deirdre Hollingsworth (University of Oxford Big Data Institute), Professor Graham Medley (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine), Professor Ian Hall (University of Manchester), Professor Michael Tildesley (University of Warwick), Dr Ellen Brooks-Pollock (University of Bristol), Professor Thomas House (University of Manchester), Dr Hannah Christensen (University of Bristol), Dr Jess Enright (University of Glasgow), Dr Jonathan Read (Lancaster University)

Scientific Writers: Dr Marianne Freiberger (Plus Magazine & Millennium Maths Project, University of Cambridge), Rachel Thomas (Plus Magazine & Millennium Maths Project, University of Cambridge)

Members: Dr Carl Whitfield* (University of Manchester), Dr Rebecca Baggaley* (University of Oxford Big Data Insitute), Dr Chris Illingworth (University of Cambridge), Dr Rob Challen (University of Exeter), Dr Chris Overton (University of Liverpool & UKHSA), Dr Samuel Moore (University of Warwick), Dr Christopher Davis* (University of Warwick), Dr Trystan Leng* (University of Warwick), Dr David Pascall* (University of Cambridge), Jess Bridgen (Lancaster University), Dr Ed Hill (University of Warwick), Josh Blake (University of Cambridge), Dr Emily Nixon* (University of Liverpool), Li Pi* (University of Oxford), Dr Emma Davies* (University of Oxford Big Data Institute), Maria Tang* (University of Cambridge), Dr Feng Xu (University of Manchester), Peter Kirwan (University of Cambridge), Dr Francesca Scarabel* (University of Manchester), Ben Atkins (University of Warwick), Dr Heather Riley (University of Manchester), Daniel Stocks* (University of Bristol), Dr Helena Stage (University of Manchester), Dr Alison Hale* (Lancaster University),  Dr Laura Guzmán Rincón* (University of Warwick), Dr Amy Thomas* (University of Bristol), Dr Pantelis Samartsidis (University of Cambridge), Dr Anna Borlase* (University of Oxford Big Data Institute)

*These members received direct funding from UKRI COVID-19 rapid response grant 2021-2023.