Projects

Since its inception in 1995, the GeoSentinel Surveillance Network has focused on surveillance with great success. All travellers at all sites meeting inclusion criteria (having traversed an international border and presenting with an acute medical complaint) have had core surveillance data collected using a single data collection form. These data consist of information routinely collected at the time of presentation as part of standard care, with the addition of final diagnoses as determined by expert clinicians at our sites. In the past, projects have mostly involved retrospective analyses and have tended to be descriptive or exploratory in nature. Starting in 2015, the Network expanded its activities to “enhanced surveillance,” which involves focused, time-limited data collection designed to answer pre-defined questions. Research has been a small component of GeoSentinel activities to date. However, with the transition to a research cooperative agreement, we will be focusing primarily on research projects, while continuing our core surveillance activities. These research projects can be grouped into two broad clusters. The first cluster incorporates typical research approaches into our innovative, well-tested platform, including natural history studies, comparative studies, risk modelling, and assessment of disease diagnostics and interventions. The second modifies our highly successful “enhanced surveillance” model by adding data collection components that enhance the generalizability of the analyses.