The Willis Research Network has partnered with Metabiota, a risk analytics organisation that specialises in infectious diseases modelling and helps businesses and countries build resilience to pandemics.

The partnership will leverage San Francisco-headquartered Metabiota’s epidemiological data analytics capabilities to improve understanding of pandemic risk, build better pandemic risk models, and support mitigation and risk transfer decision making for increased resilience.

Willis Towers Watson’s research arm, which links more than 60 organisations in science, academia, think tanks and the private sector, will use the partnership with Metabiota to address both public and private sector needs to manage the next pandemic in a more broadly informed and pre-planned way once the current crisis has passed its peak.

In the private sector, the partnership will focus on helping clients improve their structural resilience to pandemics and navigate human resources, insurance business and investment issues more effectively.

John Haley, chief executive officer of Willis Towers Watson, said: “The research partnership with Metabiota highlights Willis Towers Watson’s commitment to developing a full understanding of pandemic risk and providing risk transfer tools to enable communities to build greater resilience to pandemic diseases such as Covid-19.”

“We are focused on finding innovative ways to apply our risk, capital and people expertise, and with Metabiota we bring a valuable new partner into that mission.”

Simon Young, senior director of the Climate and Resilience Hub at Willis Towers Watson, continued: “The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has shone the brightest of lights on the global need for improved understanding of and preparedness for communicable disease risk, and we plan for our work with Metabiota to encompass innovations around risk understanding tools as well as risk management advisory services and risk transfer solutions.”

Nita Madhav, chief executive officer of Metabiota, said: “Epidemics and pandemics are very complex risks in terms of how they spark, evolve and impact societies and economies. We’re delighted to collaborate with colleagues across Willis Towers Watson to better understand and quantify the risk posed by pandemics. This partnership recognises the scientific leadership, knowledge and expertise that Metabiota brings to assessing epidemic and pandemic risk, to ultimately protect lives and livelihoods.”