The University of Michigan is amongst 13 institutions that can receive funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be a part of a national network of centers focused on predicting and responding to future disease outbreaks.

U-M will receive a $17.5 million grant over five years to ascertain the Michigan Public Health Integrated Center for Outbreak Analytics and Modeling, or MICOM.

Housed throughout the U-M School of Public Health, MICOM is a partnership with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and a national collaboration amongst institutions’ experts, who represent a wide selection of disciplines.

At U-M, researchers from the College of Engineering, School of Information, Medical School and College of Literature, Science, and the Arts can even lend their expertise to the trouble.

This center is a remarkable opportunity to construct on the strong partnerships between the University of Michigan and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to integrate outbreak analytics, modeling and forecasting into public health practice and improve public health in Michigan and beyond.”

Marisa Eisenberg, director of MICOM and associate professor of epidemiology and sophisticated systems

The 13 institutions, or funded partners of the CDC, will receive a complete of $250 million in grants over five years to ascertain their very own centers and work alongside the CDC and state and native health departments.

The funding comes from the CDC’s Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics, a federal initiative launched in April 2022 to reinforce the nation’s ability to answer public health threats with timely, effective decision-making informed by data, modeling and analytics.

The establishment of the brand new network is step one in making a nationwide resource for outbreak analytics, disease modeling and forecasting to support more practical, real-time response during public health emergencies.

“Each of the grantees will help us move the nation forward in our efforts to raised prepare and reply to infectious disease outbreaks that threaten our families and our communities,” said Dylan George, director of the Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics. “We’re committed to working alongside these outstanding partners to realize our goal of using data and advanced analytics to support decision-makers at every level of presidency.”

Emily Toth Martin, associate professor of epidemiology and co-director of MICOM, said considered one of the middle’s focus areas will probably be to integrate and refine modeling and data analytics tools for state and native public health partners in support of data-driven decision-making and solutions.

“Systems for evidence-based decision-making and communication of information to public health officials have to be in place before we want to answer an outbreak,” Martin said. “The work of this network will save worthwhile time in responding to future disease threats.”