New NSF centers will take a multidisciplinary approach to pandemic prediction and prevention
Early detection and prevention of potential pandemics — whether they affect humans, animals or plants — are vital to the health, economy and security of the United States. The U.S. National Science Foundation has funded a series of projects totaling $72 million that will bring together the multidisciplinary research and training, technology and data, and sustained collaboration needed to tackle this grand challenge and develop effective mitigation and response activities.
The projects are funded by the Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention (PIPP) program, which was initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic to address both the immediate instance as well as the broad range of diseases that drastically impact life on Earth. The network of team-based centers will accelerate fundamental research and development activities to develop methods and tools that will help predict and mitigate future pandemics, whether they arise in animals (like highly pathogenic avian influenza), plants (like wheat rust and citrus greening), or in humans (like bubonic plague).
To achieve these goals, the projects bring together experts in biological sciences, computer and information sciences, engineering, mathematical and physical sciences and social sciences to target three primary areas: environmental surveillance, data to decisions and rules of host-pathogen interactions. Because of the multiple factors in public health emergencies, experts across different scientific fields must work together to tackle challenges, and the research is supported by various NSF directorates.
"Research on emerging infectious diseases is a critical investment in our future, and it necessitates a collaborative approach that spans multiple disciplines and sectors and incorporates the newest tools and technology," said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. "By bringing together experts in biology, computer science and artificial intelligence, engineering and more, these investments are well positioned to predict, prevent and respond to potential pandemics across all forms of life, thus safeguarding the health, economic stability and security of our nation."
The PIPP Phase II Centers will support research and development activities, including training opportunities for the next generation of scientists needed to transform society's ability to forecast the likelihood of pandemic-scale events, detect outbreaks as early as possible and respond efficiently. Sustained, fundamental scientific advancement in these areas offers the potential to mitigate future pandemics and deliver additional economic impacts and public health improvements.
The awardees and a summary of each project:
NSF Pandemic Environmental Surveillance Center for Assessing Pathogen Emergence (NSF ESCAPE)
Led by the University of Kentucky, NSF ESCAPE will focus on environmental surveillance by combining social science, engineering, bioinformatics and risk modeling. Collaborating institutions include the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Arizona State University, the University of Alaska Anchorage and the Wildlife Conservation Society.
NSF Center for Analysis and Prediction of Pandemic Expansion (NSF APPEX)
Led by the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, NSF APPEX will focus on identifying the factors that turn an infection into a pandemic. Collaborating institutions include Arizona State University, Bowdoin College, Duke University, EDGE Foundation, Georgia State University, Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Tufts University, the University of Florida, the University of Wyoming, Virginia Commonwealth University, Washington State University and Yale University.
NSF Center for Pandemic Insights (NSF CPI)
Led by the University of California, Davis, NSF CPI will focus on investigations into the pre-emergence phase of pandemic threats to identify key events that precipitate pandemics and inform solutions that incorporate One Health perspectives. Collaborating institutions include the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Colorado State University, Labyrinth Global Health, Northeastern University, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Texas Tech University, UCLA, UC San Diego, the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California.
Led by Virginia Tech, NSF COMPASS will discover the genetic, molecular, cellular and chemical rules of life that underlie virus-host interactions through community-based research. COMPASS researchers will create predictive models that address how a pathogen may lower host barriers to infect a cell, how it persists in the environment, and how drugs that have already been approved may be utilized to treat infections. Collaborating institutions include Cornell University, Meharry Medical College, the University of Michigan and Wake Forest University.