RTI International, an independent scientific research institute based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, will lead the central coordination center for the Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases (CREID) Network, which the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has renewed for fiscal year 2026, RTI announced on October 13, 2026. The network includes nine domestically based research centers and one central coordination center (U01-AI151378).
“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.”
Strengthening Outbreak Readiness
The CREID Network advances understanding of emerging and re-emerging viral diseases while building the expertise, capacity, and readiness needed to answer prioritized research questions during outbreaks. Domestic and international multidisciplinary teams will conduct collaborative, hypothesis-driven research on known human pathogens.
Researchers will investigate how emerging and re-emerging viruses spill over into human populations, cause disease, and spark outbreaks, generating knowledge to identify threats early and strengthen U.S. readiness. Areas of focus include the connections among people, animals, and shared environments; drivers of transmission; human immune responses to infection; and tools and technologies for detecting and diagnosing viruses of human health importance.
As the Network Coordination Center, RTI will support collaboration, operational coordination, data and resource sharing, and readiness across the nine research centers and their sites.
Enhanced Biosafety and Oversight
The renewed program includes enhanced biosafety, biosecurity, and federal oversight measures. It 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 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. If a novel virus is inadvertently discovered, it must be reported to NIAID immediately, and any proposed follow-on work 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..
About RTI International
RTI International is an independent scientific research institute dedicated to improving the human condition, integrating expertise across social, statistical, data, and laboratory sciences, engineering, and other disciplines to address critical global challenges.
