Our overarching goal is to develop an interconnected, harmonized network of clinical and laboratory sites to strengthen research programs, compare disease epidemiology and severity in different regions, develop and implement cutting-edge diagnostic methods, and respond efficiently and effectively to outbreaks.

As a member of the 10 centers that make up the CREID (Centers of Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases) our center, led by Dr. Eva Harris and Dr. Josefina Coloma and based at UC Berkeley, will be named the Asian-American Center for Arbovirus Research and Enhanced Surveillance (A2CARES). A2CARES includes a consortium of partners in Nicaragua, Ecuador, Sri Lanka and the United States with overarching goal of developing an interconnected, harmonized network of clinical and laboratory sites to provide the foundation for research programs, compare arboviral diseases across geographic regions, develop and implement cutting-edge molecular and serological testing methods, and respond efficiently and effectively to new disease outbreaks.

We will utilize standardized hospital studies and community-based cohorts across these three centers to characterize and compare human arboviral illnesses in urban and rural sites, and develop sustainable infrastructure to rapidly respond to epidemics, complemented by outbreak investigation, surveillance of non-human primates, and vector incrimination. A list of our partners and key collaborators can be found here

The A2CARES Consortium will provide valuable new tools and knowledge that will be able to study emerging and endemic infectious diseases far into the future.