About

Project overview

The Georgetown Outbreak Activity Library (GOAL) was developed to provide a global resource to describe what needs to be done, when, and by whom, throughout all phases of outbreak preparedness, response, and recovery. Here, we provide rapid access to a comprehensive library of activities with relevant international and national policies and regulations, access to key information about stakeholders, and examples through a series of case studies. The tool is designed to support responders in understanding what needs to get done, by whom, and when in the context of an event, providing information on existing guidance and authorities and to define response requirements for new and emerging events. GOAL can also be used for preparedness and planning efforts to ensure that this work is comprehensive and based in the practical realities of outbreak response.

GOAL is regularly updated to expand and refine the activity descriptions, update policies and plans relevant to each activity, and add to the library of case studies.

The tool was developed by the Georgetown University Center for Global Health Science and Security. The content draws from feedback from panels of international experts on outbreak preparedness and response in addition to on-going research efforts within the Center. 

A research brief describing GOAL is available here and can be cited as

Outbreak Activity Library: An online, user-friendly compilation of activities essential for effective outbreak response. (2020). Georgetown University. https://georgetown.app.box.com/s/p64gdearegdw9rdtnn0044o8ole7g7nv

Citation and data use

The Georgetown University Center for Global Health Science and Security has created and maintains this site for use by researchers, decision-makers and other interested parties. We encourage you to use the data from this site. If you do, though, please use the following citation:

Georgetown University Center for Global Health Science & Security. Georgetown Outbreak Activity Library. Washington, DC: Georgetown University. Available at https://goal.ghscosting.org/

We ask that you let us know if you publish anything using data from this site, so we can link to it. Contact us at GOAL@georgetown.edu.

This tool and the underlying datasets are available for use under the Creative Commons Attribution By License agreement (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), with appropriate reference and acknowledgement of the original research team.

In addition to direct downloads from the sites, we are happy to work with your team to provide automated access via API or other data sharing method. Please contact us at GOAL@georgetown.edu for more information.

Acknowledgements

Funding

The research and subsequent online tool was funded by a grant to Georgetown University from the Open Philanthropy Project.

Contributors

Research team leads are Dr. Rebecca Katz and Dr. Ellie Graeden of the Georgetown Center for Global Health Science and Security. Primary content contributors include Aurelia Attal-Juncqua, Matthew Boyce, Dr. Ellen Carlin, Jessica Lin, Mackenzie Moore, Jordan Schermerhorn, Juliana St Goar, Dr. Claire Standley, Hannah Todd, Kate Toole, Ciara Weets, Aika Wojt, and Emily Woodrow. Data management and web interface design supported by Justin Kerr, Hailey Robertson, Kelsey Smith, Nicole Stephan, Tess Stevens, Michael Van Maele, and Ryan Zimmerman. Case study contributors include Madison Alvarez, Madison Berry, JL Chretien, Samantha Lau, Emily Sherman, and Mark Wilcox.

Advisors

The GOAL team is grateful to external advisors for their contributions to the development of this tool, including: David Brett Major, Joseph Fair, Janice Hepburn, Jas Mantero, Ryan Morhard, and Rob Salerno.

Contact us

We welcome questions about the Georgetown Outbreak Activity Library, feedback on its contents, and examples of research conducted using the library. You may contact our team by email at GOAL@georgetown.edu.

Submit a case study

The Georgetown Outbreak Activity Library invites practitioners to highlight their outbreak response work in a case study format. To submit a case study for consideration, please fill out the form at this link.

Research efforts citing GOAL

GOAL’s response phase framework has been cited by a research effort that analyzed the response of states and international organizations to the 2014 Ebola epidemic and the 2020 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic (main text in German with abstract available in German and English):

Richter, D., & Zürcher, S. (2021). Epidemisches Versagen: Warum Staaten und internationale Organisationen wiederholt bei der Bekämpfung von Epidemien scheitern. Zeitschrift Für Außen- Und Sicherheitspolitik. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12399-021-00876-3