Center for Pandemic Insights
The Center for Pandemic Insights is focused on preventing the next pandemic before diseases emerge. Funded over seven years through NSF’s Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention (PIPP) program, the $18 million center is led by the University of California, Davis, and is in collaboration with 10 partnering institutions, including Northeastern University.
The interdisciplinary center, which draws from health, engineering, agriculture, and social sciences, aims to harness new technologies and develop sensing to detect, investigate, and ultimately prevent pandemics at their source.
Nian Sun, Distinguished Professor of electrical and computer engineering, at Northeastern is co-principal investigator leading innovative sensing technology to enable pre-emergence detection efforts for pathogen sensors, including sensor development, tests, optimization, validation, and deployment. Jennifer Love, associate teaching professor for engineering at Northeastern, is part of the project team focused on education, outreach, training, and workforce development.
To enable large-scale, safe, and efficient monitoring for emerging diseases, center scientists aim to:
- Study how epidemics cycle in nature, looking at animals that are the natural reservoirs for viruses. They will create models to understand how diseases may spill over before developing into pandemics.
- Create sensor networks that can detect disease cycles in nature.
- Fine-tune insights into pandemic risk using advanced computer programs that mix model predictions with sensor data.
Other partnering institutions leading a range of center activities include the University of Southern California, Labyrinth Global Health, Texas Tech University, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, UCLA, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, University of Michigan, UC San Diego, and Colorado State University.
For more information contact:
nian@ece.northeastern.edu
New magnetic and magnetoelectric materials and device physics; integrated magnetic, ferroelectric and multiferroic materials and microsystems for sensing, memory, power, RF and microwave electronics; novel electrochemical sensors for sensing different pathogens and biomarkers for the diagnosis of various diseases, including COVID-19, Alzheimer’s disease, lung cancer, drug abuse, diabetes, etc.
Recent News
New NSF Center for Pandemic Insights
Northeastern University was featured in the Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News article New NFS Center for Pandemic Insights, a partnership of 11 universities and includes ECE Distinguished Professor Nian Sun as a co-PI and Associate Teaching Professor Jennifer Love as a member of a project team.
Northeastern Co-PI of New NSF Center for Insights Into the Pre-Emergence Phase of Pandemics
ECE Distinguished Professor Nian Sun is co-PI of the new NSF Center for Pandemic Insights, which is led by the University of California-Davis and in partnership with 10 universities. Sun is leading innovative sensing technology, while Associate Teaching Professor Jennifer Love is part of the project team for education, outreach, training, and workforce development.