Laura Merson MD
Laura is Associate Director of the Infectious Diseases Data Observatory (IDDO), a scientifically independent, multi-disciplinary coalition across the global infectious disease community. Based in the Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health at the University of Oxford, Laura develops platforms which synthesise health data to generate reliable evidence and research-driven responses to major challenges in poverty related diseases and emerging infections. IDDO has developed platforms for malaria, Ebola, visceral leishmaniasis and beyond, by engaging the health, research and the humanitarian communities to collaboratively design ethical and legal frameworks tailored to impact individual diseases. Laura’s research interests include exploring issues in sharing biomedical research data and in changing the paradigm of clinical research in outbreaks to enable rapid research response.