Pandemics come and go, but they keep coming. And so, even as the world grapples with COVID-19, researchers and public health officials are trying to apply its lessons to future outbreaks.

Part 1: Death, taxes and zoonotic spillover
What kind of surveillance gives the best shot at early detection? What are key diagnostic tests necessary during different phases of a pandemic? What are the fastest ways to get effective therapeutics for future threats whose exact nature remains unknown until they surface? What technologies could speed up the availability of vaccines in future outbreaks?

Part 2: Excess testing capacity essential, but cost question not yet answered
The logistics side of diagnostics rollout during COVD-19 has been its very own disaster. But on the technology side, there is a dizzying range of technologies that test for a pathogen by a variety of features, such as surface antigens and nucleic acids. In addition, the more than 11,000 clinical labs in the U.S. that are authorized to perform lab-developed tests do not deploy an identical set of technologies, another testament to the incredibly complex world of diagnostic testing for communicable diseases.

Part 3: Firebreaks and host-directed therapies
From “fire breaks” to repurposing and host-directed therapies, the quickest paths to a therapeutic arsenal.

Part 4: Speeding development and stretching supplies
Back to normal won’t happen until there is a vaccine. Technology developments during COVID-19 could lead to more rapid deployment of vaccines in future pandemics.