Learning from COVID-19: strengthening Australia's research capacity through preparedness and collaboration

Summary: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted that preparedness for and responsiveness to pandemics requires public health platforms and processes which are nimble and evidence-based and a research ecosystem which is rapidly responsive to the evolving needs of society and decision-makers. The national BEAT COVID-19 research consortium was funded in 2020 by the Snow Medical Research Foundation (Snow Medical). Its Expert Advisory Committee met with the consortium post-pandemic to summarise the research undertaken and to consider lessons learned through the research response to COVID-19 in Australia. The panel observed that philanthropy offered an important 'kick-starter' funding mechanism for urgent research, which facilitated leveraging of additional funds. It further agreed that research requirements for strengthening Australia's pandemic preparedness and response include: (1) development of a national health and medical research strategy for pandemic research; (2) long-term investment in pre-established research partnerships and networks; (3) systemic procedural improvements, e.g. in ethics, governance and resource allocation; (4) responsive funding mechanisms including philanthropy; and (5) integration of research outputs into health practice and decision-making, as illustrated in Figure 1.