Abstract
Given the increased risk of pandemics driven by emerging and reemerging infectious diseases, it is imperative that the United States and global scientific community be better prepared for future threats by prioritizing and launching key research programs and strategies. In December 2021, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) published its pandemic preparedness plan, which focuses on the prototype pathogen approach for medical countermeasure development. The plan was introduced before its release at a NIAID-hosted workshop in November 2021 that featured scientific experts from the extramural community, government, and the private sector and focused on selection of prototype pathogens from 10 viral families with pandemic risk and moderate resources. This article will serve as an introduction to this special issue and will briefly define the prototype pathogen approach, describe the workshop goals and process for outcomes, and provide an outline of the viral working group articles to follow and future directions for NIAID.