New Center Receives $18M from NSF to Develop Tools to Investigate the Pre-emergence Phase of Pandemics

Most pandemics are caused by emerging infectious diseases that originate in wildlife and are detected only after causing outbreaks in humans. The complex nature of infectious diseases limits the ability of scientists to conduct targeted surveillance and gather data at the speed or scale needed to detect pandemic threats.

"Our goal is to develop the tools that will allow us to see and understand these threats in their natural cycles," said Patrick Mercier, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering and co-investigator of the Center. “By doing so, we aim to shift the paradigm from reactive crisis management to proactive prevention.”

Preventing pandemics requires a deep understanding of viruses where they naturally occur. This includes knowledge of disease cycles in wild animal hosts and how these disease cycles interact with people on the landscape. Those interactions occur at the pre-emergence phase of pandemics.

To provide real-time intelligence in the pre-emergence phase, Center scientists will focus on three key efforts:

• 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.

Together, these efforts can enable large-scale, safe and efficient monitoring for emerging diseases.

At UC San Diego, Mercier is involved in the development of advanced sensor networks for real-time remote detection of pathogens and key events in disease outbreaks. In particular, his team is developing ultra-sensitive, low-power sensors designed to detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air—biomarkers that may signal the presence of disease.

“These sensors can be strategically placed in environments known to be hotspots for viral emergence and enable us to get information on disease cycles in these sorts of environments,” said Mercier. The technology builds on Mercier’s previous work in ultra-low power wireless sensing, including a sensor capable of detecting SARS-CoV-2 particles with high sensitivity that operates on just 25 microwatts of power.

Mercier is also leading the technological development of the wireless infrastructure necessary to support these sensor networks in remote locations with little or no cellular coverage. Center researchers are focused on ensuring that their technology can operate reliably in the field and provide scientists with real-time data that could be crucial in characterizing pandemic risk.

Other partnering institutions that will lead a range of center activities include the University of Southern California, Northeastern University, Labyrinth Global Health, Texas Tech University, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, UCLA, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, University of Michigan, and Colorado State University.