PandemiX Center Research Projects
PandemiX - Center for Interdisciplinary Study of Pandemic Signatures - is a centre of excellence supported by the Danish National Research Foundation.
The overall aim of the centre is to study the impact and signatures of COVID-19 and historical pandemics to better understand the phenomenon and prepare for future pandemics.
Centre projects
The PandemiX Centre participates in a number of internally and externally funded research projects, and the centre's researchers participate in projects in collaboration with other research institutions in Denmark and abroad. Among the projects are:
The Great Leap. Multidisciplinary approaches to health inequalities, 1800-2022
To this day and age, deep-routed, structural inequalities in health have been one of the most consistent and pressing challenges society has faced. Recent events, such as the COVID19 pandemic highlight the urgent need for new research, insights and action to tackle this challenge for future generations. Embracing the COST Mission, the Great Leap takes a unique, multidisciplinary approach from a historical perspective to gain a greater understanding of the roots and drivers of health inequalities across regions and countries in Europe and beyond.
PandemiX Pathology Collections Webpage
"PandemiX Pathology Collections Webpage" is an interdisciplinary project that aims to create a central online catalog showcasing rare and diverse historical pathology specimens from various European institutions. By digitizing and preserving these invaluable collections, this project seeks to highlight their immense scientific and historical significance, ensuring that the knowledge they hold is not lost to time.
FUTUREDEMICS: Nordic Pandemic Preparedness Modelling Network
This scientific modelling hub will have the cross-disciplinary and cross-sectorial expertise and capacity to provide timely, relevant advice that aligns with policy priorities and demands when future pandemics and emergencies arise.
PID-scapes: Post-pandemic infectious disease landscapes: interactions across time and space
The PID-scapes project aims to study how infectious diseases affect another on a population level and how the pandemics of the late 19th and early 20th century affected the normal patterns in disease circulation. Overall, the aim is to gain a better understanding of what happens with the landscape of infectious diseases during and after a pandemic.
Social inequality, mortality and causes of death during the epidemiological transition in Copenhagen, 1861-1940
This project takes advantage of a set of newly digitized historical sources to address a central topic in social and economic history: how social standing affected the health and life expectancy of individuals living during the epidemiological transition. The epidemiological transition describes the shift in populations from high mortality due to infectious diseases to longer life expectancies with chronic non-communicable diseases becoming the primary causes of death.
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A Quantitative study of historical and contemporary pandemics
With this research project we want to construct a comprehensive theory to explain how and why emerging epidemic diseases come and go, take off or disappear, and eventually melt into the larger pool of recurrent epidemic diseases. In doing so, we aim to reveal important insights into the major diseases that shaped human society and—crucially—help to prepare for future pandemic threats: the next Disease X.
The project was fundet by the Carlsberg Foundation
Link to the project on historical and contemporary pandemics
Understanding immunity against SARS-CoV-2 in the general population: a seroprevalence study
The COVID-19 pandemic approaches its second wave peak in Denmark and vaccination programmes are soon to start. This study will investigate the build-up of immunity in the population during the first wave by studying seroprevalence of COVID-19 antibodies in Danish patients. This will help us understand age-specific immunity, dark-numbers and further develop surveillance strategies. This knowledge will help future mitigation strategies and help prepare for the coming spring.
The project was fundet by Lundbeckfonden
Link to the project about COVID19 immunity
Long-term Impact of Childhood Vaccination Programs: Using Historical data to Understand Modern Disease Patterns
Childhood vaccination programs are often presented as one of the main reasons for the historic decline in infectious disease mortality. However, this subject has mainly been investigated in contemporary settings without the long view needed to gain a complete understanding of disease patterns after decades of vaccine use.
The project was funded by Independent Research Fund Denmark.
Read more about the project Childhood Vaccination Programs
NORDEMICS: Pathogens, Pandemics and the Development of Nordic Societies
This project aimes to create a Nordic interdisciplinary consortium dedicated to understanding how factors such as urbanization, increased trade and travel, large-scale migration, vaccines and other public health interventions, climate change and ecological degradation influence the dynamics of epidemic and pandemic infections in human populations. The consortium will systematically study historical health data to understand the patterns of spread and health impact of such diseases in the Nordic countries over the last 300 years.
The project was funded by NordForsk