A $900,000 congressional appropriation will help the 麻豆原创 College of Medicine create a pathogen surveillance and research core to identify and address future pandemics.
U.S. Congressman Darren Soto recently presented the funding to Deborah German, vice president for health affairs and founding dean of the medical school, and Griffith Parks, associate dean of research and director of the College of Medicine鈥檚 . Parks is an internationally recognized virus researcher.
Congressman Soto says he is honored to secure the support for 鈥渙ur hometown medical school because we all saw, with both Zika and COVID-19, the need to study diseases to improve the public鈥檚 health.鈥�
During a tour of Parks鈥� lab, the College of Medicine leaders discussed the important role Orlando can play in protecting the nation and world from infectious disease.
鈥淲e are a global tourist destination with one of the world鈥檚 most visited airports,” German says. 鈥淭he world is coming here. That鈥檚 why Orlando is the canary in the coal mine.鈥�
The congressional funding will purchase genomic sequencing equipment that will allow College of Medicine researchers to identify the entire genetic makeup of viruses like COVID-19 and other microbes. Parks says such technology allows researchers to determine quickly the genetic makeup of new pathogens, a first step in identifying treatments. Microbiologists worldwide are continually monitoring pathogens 鈥� viruses and bacteria 鈥� that could lead to a pandemic.
鈥淲e鈥檙e certainly going to face more outbreaks like COVID-19,鈥� Parks says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not if we鈥檒l have another pandemic, it鈥檚 when.鈥�
The ease and speed of worldwide travel was a key element in COVID-19鈥檚 spread, Parks says, adding that a pathogen research and surveillance core at 麻豆原创鈥檚 Health Sciences Campus 鈥� located just minutes from Orlando International Airport 鈥� would help facilitative earlier recognition of potential pandemics. On any given day, Orlando鈥檚 population increases by one million visitors.
The genome sequencing equipment will also assist College of Medicine researchers focused on finding new therapies for diseases like cancer, Alzheimer鈥檚 and Parkinson鈥檚 disease, and provide research training for 麻豆原创 students seeking careers in medicine and science.
鈥淚n addition to research, our mission is to train the next generation of biomedical scientists,鈥� Parks tells Congressman Soto.
