Governance and ethos
DeZi operates as a collaboration of equals across 20+ partner countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe — built on a simple conviction: the most reliable arbovirus research emerges from networks where decision-making, leadership and data stewardship are distributed rather than centralised, and where Global South institutions lead the generation and use of knowledge.
Principles
Five principles guide how DeZi works in practice:
Local leadership. National focal points co-design studies, lead in-country work, and retain ownership and stewardship of the resulting data — ensuring research priorities are locally defined and locally relevant.
Open by default. Sequences, serological data and code are shared openly and rapidly — Pathoplexus for genomes, Zenodo for analytical outputs, GitHub for tools — with appropriate safeguards and attribution.
Equitable authorship. In-country teams and partner institutions are named on every publication their work contributes to. Authorship policies are agreed up front, reflecting contribution rather than institutional power.
Capacity that stays. Equipment, training and bioinformatics infrastructure remain with partner institutions beyond the lifetime of the programme, supporting sustained scientific independence.
In service of the common good. Outputs are designed for ministries of health, the WHO, researchers, diagnostic and vaccine developers, and the public — under transparent terms that maximise public health benefit.
Structure
DeZi is hosted at the Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Imperial College London, with funding from the Wellcome Trust and additional support from the Temasek Foundation. Hosting provides coordination and infrastructure, not control. Scientific direction is shared across four work-package leadership teams covering serology, molecular diagnostics, genomic sequencing, and stakeholder engagement. A Steering Committee — including country focal points from partner ministries and national institutes — oversees strategy and ensures research priorities reflect partner needs.
Join our network
DeZi is an open and evolving collaboration. We welcome engagement from researchers, public health agencies, laboratories, and partners who share our commitment to collaborative science, local leadership, and equitable global health research.
For those interested in working with the network, please do reach out!