The UCI Infectious Disease Science Initiative has been approved for another year of funding and will receive $150,000 to continue its research and educational activities.

The UCI Infectious Disease Science Initiative has been approved for another year of funding and will receive $150,000 to continue its research and educational activities.

The initiative, led by UCI Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing Assistant Professor Sanghyuk Shin, PhD, facilitates new collaborations between UCI’s infectious disease leaders to better understand the factors driving infectious disease outbreaks and antibiotic resistance around the world.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the group shifted much of its focus to  COVID-19 during its first year and will continue to do so in its second year.

Research projects the initiative is leading or facilitating include:

  • An investigation into the dynamics of tuberculosis transmission in Botswana
  • A study of COVID-19 risk among healthcare staff at UCI Medical Center
  • Monitoring social interactions and COVID-19 among UCI students

Members of the initiative also led several community outreach projects, including:

  • Coordinating the resources to manufacture face shields for UCI Health healthcare staff
  • Participation in the COVID-19 Surveillance Working Group
  • COVID-19 modeling consultations for the Orange and Riverside county health departments

The goals for the Infectious Disease Science Initiative in the second year include:

In addition to Dr. Shin, the initiative’s leadership team includes:

  • Donald Forthal, MD, Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases, UCI School of Medicine
  • Guiyun Yan, PhD, Professor, Program in Public Health
  • Shruti Gohil, MD, Epidemiology & Infection Prevention, Division of Infectious Diseases, UCI School of Medicine
  • Vladimir Minin, Professor, Department of Statistics, Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Science