Pacific-Southwest Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Diseases (""""""""the Center"""""""") is a research consortium comprising 34 projects clustered within seven programs. The Center also features five differentiated core facilities that serve the entire region. All four states (AZ, CA, HI, and NV) of Region IX are represented among the 27 educational, research, commercial, and governmental institutions of the Center. The overall goal of the Center is outstanding science, achieved with a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach and a portfolio that balances basic and translational research. The Center's major theme is infections of the western United States, the Pacific Rim, and Latin America of relevance for biodefense or as emerging diseases. The seven programs are: (1) dengue, (2) viral zoonoses, including arenaviruses and Nipah virus, (3) botulinum neurotoxin, (4) Category B Burkholderia species, (5) tularemia, (6) coccidioidomycosis, and (7) reservoir-targeted vaccines for prevention of human infections. Applications of the research include improved diagnostics, novel therapeutic agents, and vaccine platforms. Other key functions of the Center are: (a) responding, in cooperation with public health agencies, to infectious diseases emergencies with its collective expertise, resources, and facilities;(b) fostering the careers of talented young investigators and more established investigators newly-entering this research field;and (c) providing a region-wide training facility for investigators and staff to learn safe operations under biocontainment conditions. STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PLAN/ADMINISTRATIVE CORE: PROJECT SUMMARY: Major functions of the administrative core are the following: (1) overall coordination of activities within the Center, particularly between individual programs and core facilities;(2) monitoring of progress of programs, cores, career development projects, and developmental projects;(4) leadership of the RCE's response to a bioterrorism incident or other relevant infectious diseases emergencies;(5) RCE-wide communications and collaborations;(5) oversight of biosafety and security of materials, data, and facilities and of compliance with select agent regulations;(6) facilitating optimum usage of core facilities;(5) financial management, record keeping, and filing reports;and (7) representation of the RCE at meetings and in interactions with the National Institutes of Health, other government agencies, and industry.
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