New NIAID Grants Strengthen National Biodefense And Emerging Infectious Diseases Research Network

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, today announced four-year grants totaling approximately $80 million for two new Regional Centers of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research (RCE). The grants to the University of California, Irvine, and Colorado State University (Fort Collins) mark the completion of a national network of academic centers that conducts research to counter threats from bioterror agents and emerging infectious diseases. Each institution will receive approximately $10 million per year for the next four years to head a regional research consortium. The RCE network was identified as a national priority in the 2002 NIAID Biodefense Research Agenda.