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FORUM ON MICROBIAL THREATS Message from the Chairsâ Peter Daszak, Ph.D. Kent E. Kester, M.D. Rima Khabbaz, M.D. The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the perception of microbial threats in the minds of the public and leaders around the world. The broad impacts that can result from infectious diseases were made tangible as mitigation efforts led to lockdowns and supply chain disruptions, and translated into challenges that rippled through everyday life. The world has clearly seen and gained first-hand experience in the broad and severe consequences of an emerging pathogen on our health and security and on our financial and social well-being. Our colleagues in health, medical, and scientific research have risen to meet the critical needs of the pandemic response while working under immense pressure. Effective vaccines and diagnostic tests were developed, manufactured, and deployed in record time. Since 1996, the forum has Innovations continue to fill the pipeline for our clinical toolbox, along with renewed been committed to providing appreciation for the importance of the partnership between public health and the social and behavioral sciences. a structured opportunity for discussion and scrutiny Microbial threats are diverse and span from the burden of reemerging pathogens and neglected tropical diseases to the spread of antimicrobial resistance and of critical, and possibly the impact from infectious agents of animals and plants. The pandemic has contentious, issues related to reshaped the existing global efforts to address many of these persistent issues. research on microbial threats. The urgency and breadth of infectious disease threats underline the enduring value and contribution that the Forum on Microbial Threats provides to the discourse on science and technology, policies and regulation, and political and financial commitment to these issues. Since the Forum on Microbial Threats was formed in 1996, it has provided a structured opportunity for leaders from a wide range of disciplines and industries to debate the most effective ways to understand, anticipate, and âmanageâ emerging infectious diseases. Over the past decade, forum activities have gradually coalesced around key themes: a cross-disciplinary One Health approach that brings together our understanding of human, animal, plant, and environmental health; a readiness to work on the full infectious disease landscape that includes the impact on global health security and economies; and a commitment to serving our nation by focusing on improvements to clinical medicine, public health, policy, 4 and the inadequate antimicrobial and vaccine pipeline.
Throughout 2021, the forum continued its evolution. It expanded and diversified its sponsors and membership to better reflect the diversity of microbial threats. Peter Daszak, Ph.D. This includes representation from institutions working on neglected tropical Forum Chair diseases, child health, and global and state-focused public health. Reflecting the myriad of challenges that the global community is facing, it held the workshops Systematizing the One Health Approach in Preparedness and Response Efforts for Infectious Disease Outbreaks, Innovations for Tackling Tuberculosis in the Time of COVID-19, and Toward a Post-Pandemic World: Lessons for Now and the Future. It reformed its meetings and workshops to ensure engagement with its stakeholders in the virtual setting mandated by the pandemic. With active outreach and communications strategies, it has broadened its audience and achieved record levels of interest as reflected in the attendance at these public workshops. It continued to work closely with the One Health Action Collaborative to assess the state of One Health in the United States and globally, through discussions that covered topics from workforce development to environmental security. With the Kent E. Kester, M.D. Forum Vice Chair growing interest in adapting a One Health approach for outbreak preparedness programs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the forum is positioned to help champion policies that are cross-disciplinary and âbig picture,â but remain relevant to public health and medicine. As we move into 2022, the forum remains committed to confronting the challenges of evolving microbial threats. The ongoing pandemic has reinforced the need for a cross-disciplinary platform for leaders and experts to engage in and discuss how to better understand, prepare for, and address emerging infections. The forum will continue to exemplify a commitment to meet the needs of the global community, balancing its attention between the critical challenges associated with the current pandemic and neglected infectious diseases. Its diverse membership has Rima Khabbaz, M.D. remained active through remote gatherings, but they are ready to resume in-person Forum Vice Chair meetings in the coming year. The forum looks forward to helping identify new strategies to fund and develop the future pipeline and new ways to bolster global health security in a connected world. 5
