The National Centre for Foreign and Zoonotic Disease Defense (FAZD) will maintain its seperate identity as will the new Center of Excellence for Emerging Zoonotic and Animal Diseases (CEEZAD) led by Kansas State University. DHS directed the two Centers to submit a coordination strategy to describe the initial mechanisms for cooperation and collaboration.

In its message to the FAZD Center, DHS said it "anticipates that both co-leads will conduct projects in all of the thematic areas including: vaccines, detection, diagnostics, modeling and simulation, education, and training. DHS intends for the FAZD Center and CEEZAD to maintain administrative and scientific control over their respective projects. DHS recognizes the duplicative nature of the science proposed by FAZD Center and CEEZAD and will work with Center leadership to ensure long term coordination and collaboration."

The FAZD Center and CEEZAD will develop a coordinated strategy, which will be effectively and efficiently. Therefore, they are committed to a coordination strategy that ensures initial and ongoing communication and joint planning to make the research and education activities in the two centers complementary and fully coordinated.

The Department of Homeland Security has advised that they anticipate a timely award of cooperative agreements to the two Centers followed by further definition of the two programs within and across the Centers to move forward into the next six years of the relationship. Meanwhile, the FAZD Center will complete its existing DHS grant over the next 12 months along with initiating the first year of the cooperative agreement. The two Centers are expected to actively seek additional funding from multiple sources to extend and expand the overall effort on zoonotic and animal disease defense.

[Source: FAZD]