Decision-Makers: What We Do

Trustworthy evidence on questions that matter

UNCOVER carries out rapid and rigorous evidence reviews to answer decision-makers' questions about real-world challenges. Our roots are in the Covid pandemic, but we aim to address a broad range of complex issues which have a public health dimension - from emerging diseases to the health effects of climate change. We thrive on collaboration, and continue to build partnerships with others who share our goals. We seek to build capacity in the next generation of public health researchers - postgraduate students and alumni with relevant training or experience are welcome to join us, and we produce a variety of open-access resources which are available for use around the world.

Decision-makers and researchers often share the same goals. We want to answer the questions that matter, that will make a difference to the world we live in. We recognise that evidence-based decision-making can lead to better outcomes for everyone. But what does the evidence actually say? It can be difficult for decision-makers, working to tackle urgent issues, to see the whole of the evidence base, or to sort out reliable from unreliable answers. 

Since the start of the Covid pandemic, UNCOVER has adapted well-established public health methods to find, summarise and evaluate the evidence base in answer to decision-makers' questions - from understanding disease transmission in its early days, to exploring different approaches to social and economic recovery from the pandemic around the world. Our reviews have been requested and used by decision-makers from local to international levels.