The Forum for Fast Virus Detection, Surveillance, and Response (VIDARE)
This is a forum intended to create a future inter-institutional, Penn State-led Center for Fast Virus Detection, Surveillance, and Response (VIDARE). At PSU, VIDARE is the result of an effort led by the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences in collaboration with the Material Research Institute, with additional participation of faculty from three other Institutes (IEE, SSRI, ICDS), ARL and numerous departments. External partners are Howard University, Lincoln University, Tennessee State University, Xavier University of Louisiana, Yale University, California Institute of Technology, Rice University, and Université du Sine Saloum El-Hâdj Ibrahima (USSEIN) from Senegal, Africa.
VIDARE will establish a convergent model for One Health surveillance systems specific for emerging threats (novel pathogens, outbreaks) by combining routine infectious disease monitoring in humans, animals, vectors, and the environment with novel technologies for virus enrichment and detection. The aim is to develop of an integrated university surveillance system that combines human social and behavioral aspects, as well as farming and management practices, to contextualize pathogen signals and guide the allocation of sampling strategies and the deployment of innovative and complementary detection technologies.