Serious Game Launches to Advance Emergency Responses to Public Health Threats

ISR, in partnership with CAPTRS, has launched a free, digital game to help scientists and experts worldwide explore and improve their decision-making in public health crisis contexts.

New York, NY | August 12, 2024 – The International Science Reserve (ISR), in partnership with the Center for Advanced Preparedness and Threat Response Simulation (CAPTRS), has launched a free, digital game to help scientists and experts worldwide explore and improve their decision-making in public health crisis contexts.  

In the new game, launched today, players must navigate an evolving and hypothetical public health crisis, evaluating new information that is shared as the game progresses. To simulate real-world situations, players are presented with dynamic information and surveillance data about a pathogen outbreak. In a series of game rounds, they are asked to practice their decision-making skills using data to identify outbreak trends and better prepare for and reduce the public health threat.  

The game, the first of a series, fills a major gap in global scientific research planning on crisis preparedness and response. “Serious games” can help experts explore risk and response to situations that could arise, related to climate change adaptation and public health crises.  

For example, despite lessons from the COVID pandemic, there is currently a slow response to the initial spread to humans of bird flu. More advance experience of scenarios like the digital pathogen game can help accustom policymakers to assessing different sources of scientific information to make decisions, while it can help scientists explore how their research could be prioritized and adapted when most needed.  

CAPTRS and ISR plan to distribute the game to their networks to encourage wider participation and contribute to building a global culture of readiness. The ISR, an initiative of the New York Academy of Sciences, will connect its scientific community of over 10,000 in 100+ countries to the game as part of a larger effort to train experts on how to respond to complex, fast-moving situations, across borders, too big for any one country to handle. 

CAPTRS specializes in building next-generation games that equip decision makers with the intuition and systems needed to combat future pathogen threats and prevent catastrophic global interdependencies. The organization has partnered with government agencies, universities and corporations to train a wide range of players – including public health officials, scientists and engineers, elected officials, community and industry leaders. 

“Through an innovative approach that leverages advanced technologies and simulations, our ‘games’ place public health and hospital officials, as well as leading scientists, in the driver’s seat of an emergency—before they ever face the real thing. Designed to present users with realistic, unexpected challenges and unforeseen complications, this CAPTRS game equips scientists with the skills needed to mitigate societal harm in disaster scenarios, said Francesca de Rosa, Chief Scientist of Gaming at CAPTRS. “It also helps these emergency-leads understand how seemingly minor pieces of information can significantly alter the larger picture in an emergency. Our latest partnership is not just theoretical; its real impact will be seen in practice. This collaboration furthers our shared mission to prepare scientists for future challenges by training them in what matters most when experience and seconds count.”

“Playing through a real-life scenario helps you to imagine you are really there. The game really makes it stick with you,” said Mila Rosenthal, Executive Director of the International Science Reserve. It is an entirely different experience than reading a report. We believe that players will improve their capacity to collaborate, communicate, and make informed decisions in high-pressure crisis situations. Building a culture of readiness among policymakers and researchers by exploring scenarios in advance will help everyone prepare better and respond faster when the crisis strikes.” 

“Public health crises and pandemics are complex; successful responses are dependent on transparency, collaboration, and coordination. Each outbreak provides lessons for improvement,” said Dr. Rick Bright, a prominent virologist and the former head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. “This collaboration of CAPTRS and ISR creates a unique opportunity to bring response stakeholders, across many sectors, together to think outside the box and contribute to novel solutions that will save more lives.”

“One of the most important components of the COVID-19 response in New York was the energy of local scientists who wanted to get involved and support crisis response,” said Dr. Lorna Thorpe, Professor and Chair of the Department of Population Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine and ISR Executive Board Member. “This game will help to reignite that energy and build strong and resilient leaders not only in our region, but around the world, who are prepared for new, emerging pathogens. I encourage fellow scientists and experts to join the International Science Reserve and play.”

About The International Science Reserve

The International Science Reserve is an open network of scientists and scientific institutions, bringing together specialized technical resources for scientists to collaborate on preparing and responding to complex and urgent global crises. In transnational health emergencies and climate-related disasters, researchers in the ISR network will work together to help people and protect communities. Learn more about joining us: www.isr.nyas.org