Connecticut Emerging Infections Program Receives $19.5 Million Grant

The Connecticut Emerging Infections Program (EIP) at the Yale School of Public Health has received a five-year grant totaling approximately $19.5 million from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with an initial $3.9 million being awarded in the first year.

In partnership with Connecticut Department of Public Health, this award will support continuation of the program that was established in 1995. The Connecticut EIP is one of 12 funded sites in the U.S., creating a national network for monitoring infectious diseases and population health.

The goal of EIP is to conduct population-based surveillance and research activities that translate into informed policy and public health practice to address emerging infections. EIP project areas include invasive bacterial pathogens, respiratory viral diseases, foodborne illness, health care-associated infections that interface with the community, human-papillomavirus-associated diseases, Mpox, and tick-borne diseases. Many of these program areas include a special focus on assessing vaccine effectiveness and impact.

These surveillance data serve many purposes. First, they are used to estimate the burden of disease in populations. Second, they are used in applied epidemiology research studies to identify risk factors for many illnesses. They are also used to evaluate the impact of interventions and public health programs. Finally, and importantly, they are used to inform national policy. For example, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices that works with the CDC to make vaccine recommendations often cites EIP data.

Linda Niccolai, principal investigator of the Connecticut EIP at Yale, noted that the EIP also provides infrastructure to respond to emerging public health threats, as it recently did for both COVID and Mpox. Many factors create situations where new diseases can emerge and known diseases can re-emerge such as changes to human behavior, demographic shifts, travel and migration, economic transitions, and microbial adaptions. Thus, it is critical that we remain prepared to respond.

A professor of epidemiology (microbial diseases) and associate dean for academic affairs at YSPH, Niccolai also noted that the EIP provides invaluable training opportunities for our students. “Over the past 28 years, we have provided applied public health work experiences for over 300 students, many of whom have gone on to have impactful careers in state and local health departments, and at the CDC,” she said. “I am thrilled we will be able to continue our important work of training the future public health workforce.”

“The Connecticut Emerging Infections Program underscores the Yale School of Public Health’s commitment to supporting the people of Connecticut in maintaining good health,” YSPH Dean Megan L. Ranney, MD, said. “This grant strengthens our longstanding partnership with the Connecticut Department of Public Health and provides us the resources we need to continue identifying and monitoring health concerns in the state so we can inform public officials of emerging threats to public health.”