Beyond COVID: towards a transdisciplinary synthesis for understanding responses and developing pandemic preparedness in Alaska

• Published in: International Journal of Circumpolar Health
• Main Authors: Taylor P. van Doren, Ryan A. Brown, Guangqing Chi, Patricia Cochran, Katie Cueva, Laura Eichelberger, Ruby Fried, Stacey Fritz, Micah B. Hahn, Ron Heintz, Davin Holen, Noor Johnson, Josée Lavoie, Emily Maxwell, Lisa McNair, Todd Nicewonger, Robert W. Orttung, Andrey N. Petrov, James E. Powell
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2024
• Subjects: Pandemics; community-based research; social science; emerging pathogens; risk perception; housing security; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic; Circumpolar Health; International Journal of Circumpolar Health; Alaska
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2024.2404273; https://doaj.org/article/75493e4d93da491c9ceeee24556eceac

Pandemics are regularly occurring events, and there are foundational principles of pandemic preparation upon which communities, regions, states, and nations may draw upon for elevated preparedness against an inevitable future infectious disease threat. Many disciplines within the social sciences can provide crucial insight and transdisciplinary thinking for the development of preparedness measures. In 2023, the National Science Foundation funded a conference of circumpolar researchers and Indigenous partners to reflect on COVID-19-related research. In this article, we synthesise our diverse social science perspectives to: (1) identify potential areas of future pandemic-related research in Alaska, and (2) pose new research questions that elevate the needs of Alaska and its people, pursuant of a specific body of pandemic knowledge that takes into account the ecological and sociocultural contexts of the region. In doing so, we highlight important domains of research in the social sciences from transdisciplinary perspectives, including the centering of Indigenous knowledges and needs, the contexts of risk perception and resilience, food and housing security, and more. We highlight the contributions of social sciences to pandemic knowledge and provide a foundation for future pandemic-related research in Alaska.