WASHINGTON, DC—The CDC has awarded $2.7 million to establish two new Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Centers (PERRCs). These new PERRCs will conduct research that will evaluate the structure, capabilities, and performance of public health systems for preparedness and emergency response activities. These new centers are additions to the existing seven research centers funded in 2008.

“This is an excellent opportunity to work with a variety of experts to enhance our nation’s public health preparedness systems,” said Dr Dan Sosin, acting director of CDC’s Coordinating Office for Preparedness and Emergency Response, in a statement. “We look forward to the science-based research these universities plan to provide and implementing it toward supporting public health practice and strengthening our preparedness for future public health emergencies.”

The establishment of these research centers is mandated by the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act of 2006, which calls for research to improve federal, state, local, and tribal public health preparedness and response systems.

Seven schools were awarded $10.9 million in 2008, the first year of the program, and the two new PERRCs were added in 2009. All nine PERRCs will be funded to conduct preparedness and response research over the next four years of the five-year program. More than $13 million dollars was awarded to the nine centers in 2009. Similar annual funding is projected for each of the years remaining in the program but can vary depending upon the available budget.

The PERRCs, listed below, will be using this funding to develop new knowledge for strengthening preparedness and response capabilities and public health practice to address emerging threats to the health of the nation:

Emory University, Atlanta, GA

Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center, $1,576,364

Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA

Linking Assessment and Measurement to Performance in Public Health Emergency Preparedness Systems, $1,730,974,

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Mental and Behavioral Public Health Systems Preparedness Research, $1,509,086

University of California, Berkeley, CA

Achieving Public Health & Community Readiness for Today’s Challenges and Future Threats, $1,509.994

University of California, Los Angeles, CA

Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center: A Public Health System Approach, $1,197,053

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

University Simulations and Exercises for Educational Effectiveness (U-SEEE) Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center, $1,483,995

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC

North Carolina Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center, $1,708,876

University of Pittsburgh, PA

University of Pittsburgh Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center, $1,715,533

University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center, $1,284,320

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