ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A collaboration between a University of Central Florida infectious-disease epidemiologist, The Rockefeller Foundation and the University of Florida is supporting the ongoing response to the global coronavirus pandemic.

What You Need To Know

• Dr. Taj Azarian is an infectious-disease epidemiologist at the University of Central Florida


• The Rockefeller Foundation is giving $340,000 to UCF and UF to join a program tracking disease response


• Azarian said the funding will also help researchers with pandemic response and research over the next two years

Researchers are identifying the testing needs in schools, health departments and the tourism and hospitality industry. They are also monitoring who is and isn’t vaccinated, while identifying variants and vaccine breakthroughs.

The Rockefeller Foundation provided $340,000 for UCF and UF to become part of a U.S. Regional Accelerators for Genomic Surveillance program.

The results of the research could help with future infectious disease response.

“We’ll be able to put public measures in place to respond to them. And also, like we’ve seen in the response to COVID, that buys us time to develop measures like vaccination, which will then reduce the number of deaths and illnesses,” said Dr. Taj Azarian, a UCF assistant professor at the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences.

Azarian said by identifying the challenges in testing statewide, researchers and health leaders are able to better plan for future responses.

“The sooner we’re able to identify a pathogen and how it’s spreading through the community, the better,” he said. “Through this network, we’re going to have a better feel of the population.”

Azarian said additional funding they recently received from the Rockefeller Foundation would help researchers with pandemic response and research over the next two years, as well preparing us for the next infectious disease.​