Laura Merson

Associate Director, Infectious Diseases Data Observatory (IDDO)

Laura Merson joined ERGO and IDDO in 2015 to support new platform initiatives for emerging infections and neglected tropical diseases, including coordination of the Ebola Data Sharing Platform. This joint position integrates many of Laura’s research interests including exploring issues in sharing biomedical research data and in changing the paradigm of clinical research in outbreaks to enable rapid research response to emerging infections. As an executive member of the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infections Consortium (ISARIC), Laura has contributed to the development of standardized, open-access research protocols designed for outbreak response in collaboration with the World Health Organization. Before moving to Oxford, Laura spent more than six years building capacity in research design, implementation and ethics across Asia and Africa as Head of Clinical Trials for the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit Viet Nam.