WASHINGTON – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded $2.7 million to establish two new Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Centers (PERRCs).

The centers will conduct research to evaluate the structure, capabilities and performance of public health systems for preparedness and emergency response activities. These are in addition to the 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 Dan Sosin, acting director of the CDC’s Coordinating Office for Preparedness and Emergency Response.

The CDC received more than 20 applications in February 2008 from accredited schools of public health seeking funds to develop the centers. Two University of California campuses, one at Berkeley and one in Los Angeles, were selected then, but placed on a waiting list until additional funds became available in 2009.

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, mandated the establishment of the research centers.

Seven schools were awarded $10.9 million in 2008, the first year of the program. 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 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 PERRC locations and funding amounts are:

• Emory University, Atlanta, Ga. – Emory Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center, $1,576,364;
• Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Mass. – 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, Calif. – Achieving Public Health & Community Readiness for Today’s Challenges and Future Threats, $1,509.994;
• University of California, Los Angeles – Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center: A Public Health System Approach, $1,197,053;
• University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn. – University Simulations and Exercises for Educational Effectiveness (U-SEEE) Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center, $1,483,995;
• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C. – North Carolina Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center, $1,708,876;
• University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa. – University of Pittsburgh Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center, $1,715,533; and
• University of Washington, Seattle, Wash. – Northwest Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center, $1,284,320.