The Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling, Operational sub-group (SPI-M-O), whose epidemiological modelling supported the UK’s policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and includes several members of LSHTM’s Centre for Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases (CMMID) has been awarded the Weldon Memorial Prize.

The Weldon Memorial Prize is awarded annually by Oxford University for “noteworthy contributions to the development of mathematical or statistical methods applied to problems in biology”. It was first awarded in 1911 and past recipients have included John Maynard Smith, David Spiegelhalter and Angela McLean.

This year, for the first time in its history, the award is being given not to an individual but to a group of people, SPI-M-O. Under great pressure to deliver results quickly, and under immense public scrutiny, the group both built on existing science and developed new epidemiological and statistical techniques to understand the spread of COVID-19 and how it might be controlled. The importance of good and timely disease modelling for policymakers has never been as clear.

SPI-M-O is the modelling subgroup of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). Its membership consists of representatives from infectious disease modelling groups based at UK academic institutions and experts at the UK Health Security Agency.

Throughout the pandemic SPI-M-O has provided expert advice to the UK government on COVID-19 based on infectious disease modelling and epidemiology. This advice has been invaluable and directly led to policies which have saved thousands of lives over the course of the pandemic.  

The Prize will be accepted on behalf of SPI-M-O by LSHTM’s Professor Graham Medley and Professor Julia Gog from the University of Cambridge on 14 November. They will deliver the Weldon Memorial Prize Lecture 2022, “Modelling the COVID-19 Pandemic in the UK”. Since 2017 Professor Medley, has chaired SPI-M and over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic has represented the views of its members to SAGE.

The Weldon Memorial Prize announcement follows the recent news that many members of CMMID received a SPI-M-O Award for Modelling and Data Support (SAMDS) in recognition of their exceptional contribution to the work of SPI-M-O outside of their usual work activity.

Graham Medley said: "The time and expertise given to improving the COVID-19 national response is a huge achievement of the infectious disease dynamics community and should be recognised."