{"id":142396,"date":"2024-07-29T10:00:26","date_gmt":"2024-07-29T14:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=142396"},"modified":"2024-07-26T09:10:12","modified_gmt":"2024-07-26T13:10:12","slug":"congressman-soto-presents-ucf-funding-for-pathogen-surveillance-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/congressman-soto-presents-ucf-funding-for-pathogen-surveillance-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Congressman Soto Presents UCF Funding for Pathogen Surveillance, Research"},"content":{"rendered":"

A $900,000 congressional appropriation will help the UCF College of Medicine<\/a> create a pathogen surveillance and research<\/a> core to identify and address future pandemics.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences<\/a>. Parks is an internationally recognized virus researcher.<\/p>\n

Congressman Soto says he is honored to secure the support for \u201cour hometown medical school because we all saw, with both Zika and COVID-19, the need to study diseases to improve the public\u2019s health<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

During a tour of Parks\u2019 lab, the College of Medicine leaders discussed the important role Orlando can play in protecting the nation and world from infectious disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a global tourist destination with one of the world\u2019s most visited airports,” German says. \u201cThe world is coming here. That\u2019s why Orlando is the canary in the coal mine.\u201d<\/p>\n