CDC Funds Six New Prevention Epicenters

CDC awarded a total of $11 million to six academic institutions, which will work to identify possible new ways to prevent the spread of infectious diseases such as Ebola in health care facilities.

  • Oct 13, 2015

CDC announced it is funding six new Prevention Epicenters at U.S. universities, which more than doubles the previous number of five. These centers researchers work on new ways to protect patients from dangerous germs. CDC awarded a total of $11 million to the six academic institutions, which will work to identify possible new ways to prevent the spread of infectious diseases such as Ebola in health care facilities.

"It can be difficult and challenging to prevent the spread of dangerous diseases in health care facilities," CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden, M.D., MPH, said at the announcement last week. "To protect Americans, it's critical that we develop the cutting edge science needed to stay ahead of the germs. The six institutions receiving these funds are doing just that."

The institutions getting funding from 2015 to 2018 are Emory University, The Johns Hopkins University, the University of Illinois, Chicago, the University of Iowa, the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and the University of Utah. All will focus on:

  • Preventing the spread of infectious germs in health care facilities, including Ebola virus
  • Evaluating best approaches to use PPE
  • Studying novel approaches to minimize the role of the health care environment in germ transmission

CDC's existing Prevention Epicenters are at Cook County Health & Hospital System and Rush University Medical Center; Duke University; Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and University of California, Irvine; the University of Pennsylvania; and Washington University.

"Through the Prevention Epicenters Program, academic leaders in health care epidemiology can work together and with CDC to innovate and stay ahead of the spread of germs," said Dr. John A. Jernigan, MD, MS, director of the Office of Prevention Research and Evaluation in CDC's Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. "This program allows us to work closely with leading academic researchers to find out how to better reduce the risk of health care-associated infections and improve patient safety."

For more information on the Prevention Epicenter Program and past awardees, visit http://www.cdc.gov/hai/epicenters/.

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