The Rockefeller Foundation has announced a commitment of up to $150 million in support of efforts to detect, mitigate, and prevent pandemics.

Announced at the World Health Summit, the investment will fund the work of the Pandemic Prevention Institute — a collaborative project launched in March as part of the foundation's $1 billion commitment in support of an equitable global recovery. Together with the World Health Organization's Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin the United Kingdom's Global Pandemic Radar, the institute is working to build global capacity for stopping disease outbreaks and accelerate the development of analytic tools and algorithms that detect early warning signals. The foundation also renewed its call for expanded collaboration to strengthen the global pandemic and epidemic intelligence ecosystem.

Moving forward, the institute will seek new partners to define and invest in a common agenda through the RF Catalytic Capital, a public charity subsidiary created by the foundation in 2020. RFCC, which is incubating the institute, will eventually spin it off as a standalone entity.

"At the Pandemic Prevention Institute, we have one clear goal: keep the world safe from future pandemics," said Rockefeller Foundation senior vice president Rick Bright, who serves as CEO of the Pandemic Prevention Institute. "We cannot do it alone. We are already working with partners across the world to build an early warning system that can see the signals of outbreaks, sound the alarm, and then transform that data into action for decision-makers in every corner of the globe, but more collaboration is needed."

(Image credit: CEPI)