麻豆原创鈥檚 , and have received $4.5 million dollars in funding for a research initiative aimed at mitigating the damage caused to hospitality, travel, and small businesses by health crises, like the COVID-19 pandemic.
The funding for the collaborative research project comes from the 麻豆原创 Strategic Investment Program, supporting 麻豆原创 President Alexander N. Cartwright鈥檚 vision that 麻豆原创 will become a 鈥淯niversity for the Future鈥� as a top public institution and the world鈥檚 leading public metropolitan research university
The Infectious Disease and Travel Health Initiative has three major areas of focus:
- To provide an advance warning system through its data collection methods.
- To bring travelers and those who serve them closer to science, bridging the gap between basic science and behavioral science.
- To create a resource for small to medium-sized businesses in tourist areas to help them manage future health crisis situations that may arise.
The primary investigator on the initiative, Professor Robertico Croes, focuses his research on tourism economics, human development, poverty, and tourism management with a special interest in small and developing economies.
Croes says the Infectious Disease and Travel Health initiative is critical given travelling鈥檚 economic impact on the world and its ability to alleviate poverty and elevate human development.
鈥淲e began this project in the early days of the pandemic,鈥� Croes says. 鈥淗ealth crises like this are not an anomaly, they are becoming more and more frequent. Sometimes they are isolated to one area of the globe, but as we saw with COVID, they can devastate entire segments of the economy and small businesses often can鈥檛 recover as they don鈥檛 have the resources that large corporations have in order to mitigate a crisis.鈥�
Griffith Parks, a collaborator on the initiative and professor and director of the at 麻豆原创鈥檚 College of Medicine, says he is enthusiastic about the project.
鈥淲e are thrilled to have the support from the university on this important and unique initiative,鈥� Parks says. 鈥淲e aspire to build an initiative that will draw in faculty and students from other colleges, not just the three currently involved, such as nursing and health professions, who have an interest in population health, travel and tourism and in infectious diseases. Most importantly, a goal of the initiative is to have a strong impact on our Central Florida communities by creating connections that will help to improve and support the health of our tourism workforce and industries.鈥�
Pandemics can have devastating consequences for regions where tourism and travel are the economic lifeblood. According to Visit Florida it鈥檚 estimated the local economy in Central Florida took a $40 billion hit from lower rates of travel during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Taj Azarian, an assistant professor at the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences who investigates the emergence and spread of bacterial infectious diseases is collaborating on the project.
鈥淔lorida is a major tourist destination, as well as an international corridor to the United States. Further, its recent history has been marked by several notable public health events, as such, Florida is an ideal location to focus translational infectious disease research.鈥� Said Azarian. 鈥淗ere, or initiative will serve to strengthen business continuity, improve health and safety of travelers, and establish a sentinel network for early detection of emerging threats.鈥�
Rosen College Associate Dean and Professor Alan Fyall, a collaborator on the initiative, says the work could have a global impact.
鈥淭he pandemic has woken the world up to the fragility and vulnerability of the global tourism industry,鈥� Fyall says. 鈥淭he time is thus ripe to bring together an internationally recognized and highly experienced interdisciplinary team to develop new science-based solutions and strategies to build future economic and social strength for Central Florida and beyond.鈥�
The initiative鈥檚 collaborators also includesReseResea Kenneth Alexander, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Nemours Children鈥檚 Hospital, Florida, who says this is crucial work for future generations.
鈥淚t is important that Nemours Children鈥檚 Hospital joins in this initiative with 麻豆原创 for two reasons,鈥� Alexander says. 鈥淔irst, many of our tourist guests here in Florida are children. Second, many in our tourism labor force are raising families. Therefore, the health of children is central to the success of our tourism industry.鈥�
The Infectious Disease and Travel Health Initiative research project received funding in the Academic Excellence Category of the 麻豆原创 Strategic Investment Program. The funding will help in hiring research faculty who can secure additional funding for the project; establishing new courses and a Travel & Health track of study within the Master of Public Health degree program; and developing partnerships within the hospitality, healthcare, and science industries. Current 麻豆原创 faculty from several disciplines are engaged with the initiative.
鈥淭he interdisciplinary nature of the project and the involvement of engineering and nanoscience will have a tremendous impact on combatting future infectious disease and travel health,鈥� says Sudipta Seal, chair of the in the College of Engineering and Computer Science and co-principal investigator on the grant.
Seal鈥檚 statement was echoed by project collaborator Jane Gibson, a professor of pathology at 麻豆原创鈥檚 College of Medicine.
鈥淲e are excited to harness the collective expertise at 麻豆原创 to support the health and well-being of our tourist industry colleagues, visitors and community,鈥� Gibson says.
The Infectious Disease and Travel Health Initiative is ongoing with work on the initiative starting this summer.
