Never before in contemporary history has worldwide public awareness and interest been as great as it is now regarding the threat of infectious diseases. Major public health threats to humanity include non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, and communicable diseases, including the global influenza pandemic, HIV, malaria and tuberculosis, and other high-threat emerging pathogens, such as SARS-CoV-2, dengue, chikungunya, Nipah, and Ebola viruses, among others. Many of these threats, including antimicrobial resistance, disproportionally affect under-resourced settings with fragile primary health care systems in mid and low-income countries.
With current and new infectious disease challenges, there is an increased need to provide enriched environments of learning for future leaders in infectious diseases. Thus, it is essential that multidisciplinary approaches be taken to most effectively acquire information that is translatable to new diagnostics, therapies, and vaccines. The International Center for the Advancement of Research and Education (I●CARE) will emphasize collaborative, interactive and multidisciplinary science in order to optimally explore critical questions related to microbe-host-environment interactions. I●CARE will facilitate the advancement of research and education, with the potential to influence evidence-based policy formulation.
I●CARE will align with Texas Biomed researchers as well as with new partners around the globe to build one cohesive highly collaborative network to advance international biomedical research and education. Specifically, I●CARE will:
- Unify the strengths and needs of its members building a unique intellectual hub of highly collaborative experts in the field of infectious diseases.
- Establish strong networks and alliances across disciplines, identifying and prioritizing scientific research questions, and sharing resources among members (e.g. knowledge, samples, data, techniques, equipment, etc.)
- Advance research enabling members to apply their lab discoveries in real world settings, facilitating scientific exchange opportunities.
- Establish research and educational bidirectional gateways focused on training the next generation of scientific leaders worldwide, focusing on Low and Middle Income Countries.