RTI International to coordinate re-established NIAID Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases Network

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has renewed the Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases (CREID) Network in fiscal year 2026 under a congressional mandate. The network includes nine domestically based research centers and one central coordination center, which will be led by RTI International, an independent scientific research institute (U01-AI151378).

The CREID Network advances understanding of emerging and re-emerging viral diseases while building the expertise, capacity and readiness needed to address timely, prioritized research questions during outbreaks. Domestic and international multidisciplinary teams will conduct collaborative, hypothesis-driven research focused on known human pathogens.

"The renewed CREID Network brings together experts from across disciplines to address critical questions about emerging and re-emerging viral diseases," said Gregory D. Sempowski, Ph.D., principal investigator of the CREID coordination center at RTI. "By supporting collaboration, data sharing, research readiness across the network, and regulatory compliance oversight, we will help generate knowledge that can inform public health preparedness while maintaining rigorous biosafety, biosecurity and federal oversight standards."

CREID researchers will investigate the critical pathways by which emerging and re-emerging viruses spill over into human populations, cause disease and spark outbreaks, thereby generating the knowledge needed to identify threats early, strengthen U.S. readiness and help prevent outbreaks from reaching American communities. Areas of focus include the interconnections among people, animals and shared environments; drivers of transmission; human immune responses to infection and research tools and technologies for detecting and diagnosing viruses of human health importance.

The renewed program includes enhanced biosafety, biosecurity and federal oversight measures designed to protect the American public, safeguard national security and ensure responsible stewardship of taxpayer funds. The program does not include intentional “virus-hunting” activities for novel viruses, especially in wildlife, and reinforced monitoring will ensure that no dangerous gain-of-function research is conducted.

Network-wide safeguards will include comprehensive biosafety and biosecurity plans; governance and oversight for field and laboratory research; and more direct federal monitoring of awards and performance sites, including site visits and immediate reporting to NIAID if a novel virus is inadvertently discovered. Any proposed subsequent work involving such a discovery would require prior NIAID approval.

All CREID research will align with NIH priorities and applicable federal policies, including the United States Government Policy for Stopping High-Risk Life Sciences Research. The program will also comply with future requirements, including the NIH Biosafety Policy for Research Involving Biohazards.

As the Network Coordination Center, RTI will support collaboration, operational coordination, data and resource sharing, and readiness across the nine Research Centers and their research sites. 

For more information, visit the CREID Network website at creid-network.org or the NIAID CREID Network webpage.

Learn more about RTI's role in CREID