Description of subprojects and results, including major changes from the original proposal

The inaugural Cambridge Pandemic Prevention Symposium on October 7, 2024, brought together over 100 attendees, including experts, academics, and industry professionals from across the UK. With speakers such as Dr. Cassidy Nelson, Prof. Jonathan Heeney, Dr. Ewan Harrison, and Dr. Sana Zakaria, the event delivered a diverse lineup that spanned key insights on pandemic policy and technical interventions. Feedback indicated attendees were impressed with the level of organisation and range of topics covered, and 94.7% agreed they found the symposium valuable.

Feedback also highlighted a strong interest in attending future events, with many expressing a desire for interactive workshops, career development sessions, and events focused on narrower themes. Additionally, 79% of participants felt more informed about critical steps needed to prevent future pandemics.

Attendee Comments:

“An insightful and engaging conference. I made valuable connections and gained leads on potential biosecurity collaborations.”

“This symposium set a new standard for proactive collaboration across disciplines, essential for pandemic prevention.”

Spending breakdown

All of the grant was spent on booking the venue and providing food. The event was held at Jesus College, Cambridge.

What progress have you made since your last update?

The symposium is happening in less than 2 weeks at Jesus College, Cambridge!

We have a list of impressive speakers and have 150 registrations of attendees.

What are your next steps?

• Organising final details with the venue

• Sending final conformation details to the speakers and attendees

• Arranging poster displays

• Arranging a drinks reception for networking after the symposium

Is there anything others could help you with?

Due to the high number of attendees, we are pushed to the maximum of our budget from the generous donations so far. We would love to be able to offer reimbursement to speakers for their travel and extra donations would build in some slack as we are awaiting final invoice from the venue. If we had a larger budget we would like to be able to arrange a formal drinks reception to allow for networking, at the moment we have a casual one arranged at a public venue.

@RyanKidd
Hi Ryan - thank you so much for your grant, we really appreciate your support! 

We estimate the basic version of the event costs $3000-4000. Therefore, we would require some additional funding alongside $2000, which we likely have access to (80%) but this is not yet confirmed. This would enable us to run a basic event with speakers and lunch. We would use a university lecture theatre as the main venue (which we have free access to). We would pay speakers’ travel expenses but not any overnight accommodation, which limits us to speakers who are based in Cambridge or London. Note that we do not plan to charge a registration fee for this event.

Additional components, in order of which I would advocate for. Amounts below are rough as we are still in the process of receiving quotes for various parts.

Overnight accommodation for some speakers: $1000, dependent on uptake. This would enable us to invite speakers from anywhere in the UK where a return journey is not feasible in a single day alongside attending the event. There are several speakers based in Oxford we would be particularly excited to invite.

A much improved venue in a Cambridge college: $1000. This is a more central location, easing access, and would generally make the event feel brighter as the venue has natural light (unlike the lecture theatre), access to green space, and carries the old-world Cambridge vibes.

A drinks reception following the event would aid with networking. Depending on what this entails exactly, it would be in the region of $2000.

Travel grants for attendees who are not speakers but wish to attend, and do not have their own funding. This is very flexible depending on the number and size of what we offer.