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.
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*
Univertisy of Cambridge
Jess Bridgen
Lancaster Univeristy
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 Machester
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 receive direct funding from the UKRI grant