The TEPHINET Secretariat participated in the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) Global Meeting of Partners held virtually from December 14 to 16, 2021. This event allows GOARN partners to engage in active governance of the network through discussions related to GOARN’s strategic direction, priorities and challenges in public health emergency response, and areas for development and collaboration.

Through TEPHINET’s partnership with the GOARN Capacity Building and Training Programme, the two organizations are training Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) alumni to be effective public health responders who are qualified to deploy through GOARN to assist in an emergency.

Members of TEPHINET’s Emergency Response team—Lisandro Torre, Emergency Response Team Lead, and Sam McKeever, Project Manager—discussed TEPHINET’s role within GOARN during two plenary sessions held on December 16.

“GOARN has been a key partner for TEPHINET,” says Torre. “The training and opportunities they provide our network are foundational to what we are trying to accomplish. Because of our partnership, we are together strengthening national and international public health emergency response by increasing the number of qualified epidemiologists that are ready to deploy.”

FETP alumni should keep an eye out for training opportunities offered by GOARN and TEPHINET in 2022.

TEPHINET encourages FETP alumni to join its online FETP alumni network, TEPHIConnect, and maintain an up-to-date user profile in order to be identified for potential deployment opportunities.