Translational Research to Prevent and Control Global Infectious Diseases (Translational Global Infectious Diseases Research Center, TGIR).

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PROJECT SUMMARY – Overall Component Despite striking advances in the 20th and early 21st century, infectious diseases are dynamic, ever-evolving global threats that cause significant morbidity and mortality in all populations worldwide. Within a single year, Zika has emerged, massive outbreaks of cholera have occurred, and antimicrobial resistance has become a critical international concern. This landscape demands new approaches to prevent and control infectious diseases, and the training of new scientists to meet these demands. New approaches will require interpretation of big data sets, including data from both the biologic sciences (“systems biology” and “-omics”) and advanced epidemiology. This University of Vermont COBRE will be focused on Translational Research to Prevent and Control Global Infectious Diseases. “The TGIR Center” (Translational Global Infectious Diseases Research) will integrate a novel multi-disciplinary research team of biomedical and mathematical/computational scientists. The team will work toward novel and impactful research to diminish the burden of globally-important infectious diseases by bridging the culture gaps between the biologic and mathematical/computational fields of biomedical research. Our center will leverage substantial existing strengths at UVM in Global Infectious Diseases Research, and strengths in complex systems and computational modeling. A team of experienced directors, scientific advisors/mentors, and two new core facilities (“Mathematical and Computational Predictive Modeling” and “Human and Population Research”), will foster collaborative and novel research. The TGIR will develop four outstanding, existing junior faculty under the mentorship of senior scientific advisors from three UVM colleges and five departments. Institutional support will enable recruitment of three new junior faculty and will provide space for a new Innovation and Collaboration laboratory, the latter also supported by the proposed Alteration and Renovation component. Internal and external advisory committees will provide formal, unbiased oversight. Junior faculty will find a robust, well-organized academic home in the TGIR COBRE: a strong mentoring and career-development program, a center-wide seminar series and coursework, and research support from multi-disciplinary senior faculty teams in both research cores.