Imperial College London
London-based public research university; MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis is world-leading on outbreak modelling.
Last refreshed: 17 May 2026
Why does Imperial's outbreak modelling matter?
Timeline for Imperial College London
WHO declares Ebola PHEIC, no committee
Pandemics and BiosecurityIturi outbreak ran undetected for weeks
Pandemics and BiosecurityBackground
Imperial College London is a public research university in London, founded in 1907 by royal charter. Its MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis is one of the world's leading academic centres for outbreak modelling and pandemic-response analytics. The centre led real-time analysis of the 2014-16 West Africa Ebola outbreak, the 2018-20 DRC Kivu outbreak, and the early COVID-19 pandemic.
The centre is co-directed by Neil Ferguson, whose 2020 modelling drove the UK Government's first lockdown decision, and counts Anne Cori as Reader in Statistical Epidemiology. Its 16 May 2026 expert Q&A assessed the Bundibugyo outbreak in Ituri Province as likely having gone undetected for several weeks or months before the WHO signal of 5 May.
Imperial College sits in Lowdown's topic landscape as a primary academic source on pandemic-potential pathogen events. The 16 May Q&A is the most-cited UK academic assessment of the current outbreak.