Community needs for FAIR pathogen data: a cross-sectional survey of infectious-disease researchers and educators

In a convenience survey of 136 infectious-disease researchers, educators, and related stakeholders, structural constraints to FAIR pathogen data reuse dominate, with limited funding (74%) leading barriers.

• Why it matters: The study addresses a lack of systematic characterization of global pathogen-data community needs, despite FAIR principles being widely cited as essential for coordinated responses to emerging threats.
• What they did: The Pathogen Data Network (PDN) disseminated an open cross-sectional stakeholder survey via PDN networks, targeted mailing lists, and professional/social-media channels, analyzing 136 responses descriptively for barriers, training needs, and preferred support.
• The result: Respondents prioritized training in bioinformatics for infectious disease research (68%) and ranked the Pathogens Portal as most essential (72%), preferring virtual short courses (68%) and webinars (66%).