The Ethical Preparedness for Pandemics and Epidemics (EPPE) Study Group launched in May 2023 after a session attended by the Infectious Disease Community and Regulatory & Ethics Work Stream at GA4GH Connect. During that session, Anja Bedeker (PHA4GE) facilitated a discussion on the need for ethical preparedness for future pandemics and epidemics. This need was underscored by a presentation provided by investigative journalist Emmanuel Freudenthal outlining the unethical handling of blood samples during the West Africa Ebola epidemic. Freudenthal and members of the group drew comparisons to the recent COVID-19 pandemic response. This spurred a conversation regarding the role that standards development organisations, such as GA4GH and PHA4GE, can play in ensuring ethical conduct for future pandemics and epidemics. Research conducted during pandemics and epidemics is crucial for an effective response to disease outbreaks, but also gives rise to new and complex ethical challenges. The EPPE Study Group is a PHA4GE and GA4GH collaborative initiative attempting to create a protocol/framework/policy that will address the ethical challenges that may occur in genomic research during pandemics and epidemics. The team has dedicated the last few months to completing a landscape analysis to better understand the nature and extent of the problem and resources that may possibly assist in addressing the problem. This is also assisting us in refining the scope of the project. In this session, we will review project progress and outline steps for moving forward.