The Centers for Disease Control has awarded the Regenstrief Institute at the Indiana University School of Medicine a $2.6 million contract to improve rapid response and emergency management of infectious disease outbreaks.

The funding will allow researchers from the Regenstrief Institute to develop public health informatics solutions to combat outbreaks of such public health hazards as anthrax, plague and other infectious diseases. The Indianapolis-based group is one of only three chosen by the CDC for this work.

The funding for this project could reach nearly $10 million over five years.

Leading the CDC-supported work, which will look at diseases potentially spread naturally or by bioterrorism, are Regenstrief research scientists J. Marc Overhage, MD, and Shaun Grannis, MD.

Regenstrief researchers will attempt to accelerate the ability of local, state and regional entities to share data and enhance rapid response to - and management of - potentially catastrophic infectious disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies.