Preventing the next pandemic begins before diseases emerge. This “pre-emergence” phase is the focus of a new Center—funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)—that is dedicated to developing cutting-edge technologies for disease investigations and pandemic research.
Dubbed the U.S. National Science Foundation Center for Pandemic Insights (NSF CPI), the Center is supported with $18 million over seven years through NSF’s Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention (PIPP) program. The Center, led by the University of California, Davis, involves 10 partnering institutions from across the United States, including the University of California San Diego. One goal of the Center is to advance detection of emerging infectious diseases at their origin—before they spill over from wildlife to humans—by creating sophisticated sensor systems that monitor disease activity in natural settings.
“This Center is a moonshot for being able to transform how we do investigations into the pre-emergence phase for pandemics,” said Center lead Christine K. Johnson, a professor of epidemiology and ecosystem health in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and director of the EpiCenter for Disease Dynamics in its One Health Institute. “We’ll be able to optimize cutting-edge technology that’s already being applied in areas of human health, engineering and agriculture and bring them into this important space to help with wildlife and pandemic threats.”
Most pandemics are caused by emerging infectious diseases that originate in wildlife and are detected only after causing outbreaks in humans. The complex nature of infectious diseases limits the ability of scientists to conduct targeted surveillance and gather data at the speed or scale needed to detect pandemic threats.
“Our goal is to develop the tools that will allow us to see and understand these threats in their natural cycles,” said Patrick Mercier, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering and co-investigator of the Center. “By doing so, we aim to shift the paradigm from reactive crisis management to proactive prevention.”
Read more about this exciting venture HERE.