Asia Pathogen Genomics Initiative (Asia PGI) unveils PathGen, an AI-powered sense-making and decision-making support platform for pathogen genomics and contextual data, designed for public health practitioners, clinicians, and industry.
The solution claims to help detect emerging disease threats earlier, assess risks faster, and coordinate responses within and across borders, while ensuring countries retain complete control and ownership of their sovereign data and addressing privacy and sovereignty concerns.
Professor Paul Pronyk, director of Duke-NUS’ Centre for Outbreak Preparedness, said: “By sharing only essential insights, countries can respond faster to outbreaks while strengthening trust and sovereignty.”
PathGen
In a preview demonstration hosted by the Duke-NUS Centre for Outbreak Preparedness (COP) and Temasek Foundation, PathGen was able to integrate diverse data sources such as pathogen genomics, clinical information, population data, climate, and mosquito habitat patterns to provide actionable insights, awareness, and decision-making support. Through AI technology and foundation models, it can enable faster decision-making on treatment protocols, vaccine deployment, and resource allocation to control outbreaks.
Dr Lee Fook Kay, head of Pandemic Preparedness, Temasek Foundation, said, “Every delay between detecting a pathogen and making the right public health decision costs lives…A shared intelligence system that protects sovereignty, cuts response time, and stops outbreaks before they become crises – that’s the future of health security and preparedness!”
Looking ahead
PathGen will advance from proof-of-concept towards a launch-ready platform over the next 18 months, with pilots from early 2026 and a staged roll-out through 2027.
PathGen is housed by Asia PGI, which the Duke-NUS Centre for Outbreaks leads.
