About Us

The Great Lakes RCE (GLRCE) is a consortium of partnering institutions in Region V, encompassing Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. Investigators from twenty seven institutions form the Great Lakes RCE. The mission of the GLRCE consortium is dictated by three principles –

1. to recruit the very best scientists in the fields of microbiology and immunology of select agents, and associated biomedical, physical and chemical sciences within Region V to the Great Lakes RCE,
2. to let this cadre of investigators find the very best strategies for basic science or development of therapeutics, vaccines and diagnostics that combat bioterrorism and emerging infectious diseases in a peer reviewed process, and
3. focus center efforts on those strategies that are not addressable using conventional (non-center) approaches.

To meet these challenges, the GLRCE supports the development of, access to, and use of state-of-the-art technologies through common shared user facilities, and also maintains a collaborative research environment that links together members with their colleagues and with technological resources so that they can work together with ease and flexibility. Moreover, the Great Lakes RCE is committed to a strong translational research program that will assure that the next generation of therapeutics, vaccines and diagnostics are made available to the public in a timely and safe manner, and to facilitate collaborations that will enhance linkages and partnerships with other RCEs, governmental agencies and the pharmaceutical industry.

Research programs in the Great Lakes RCE are designed to effectively facilitate collaborative, peer reviewed research between multiple investigators, often residing at different sites, and also provide start up opportunities for young scientists or for new ideas or avenues of research. Research Projects in the Great Lakes RCE are multi-year, multi-disciplinary studies aimed at the development of new vaccines or therapies against diseases caused by agents that can be used as biological weapons. The Developmental Projects program funds short, adventurous studies aimed at providing novel approaches to the study of disease and the development of new therapies against infectious disease. Developmental Projects are directed by investigators in the region with excellent track records for research success. The Great Lakes RCE also invests in the careers of young scientists with two training programs—one for junior faculty members and one for postdoctoral scholars. The first training program supports young faculty for three years and includes mentor programs with established investigators in the consortium. The second program supports promising postdoctoral investigators considering research careers in biodefense and emerging infectious diseases. Together these programs contribute to the rapid development of biodefense products while building a foundation of research excellence in infectious disease.

In addition to the research programs, the GLRCE will contribute to the preparedness of Region V in the event of an infectious disease outbreak or bioterror attack. The Center will provide information, expertise and laboratory facilities to first responders and the media in the event of an emergency. Through its Emergency Response Plan, the GLRCE has assembled a network of public health contacts in Region V as well as a catalog of its resources that together will facilitate communication during an emergency in order to streamline the response. The GLRCE is also committed to educating the public and the first responders to infectious disease emergencies. Together, these efforts will provide technology, reagents and laboratory infrastructure to the biodefense community, will deliver education in classroom and laboratory settings, generate emergency response strategies and train emergency response providers for the region and nation.

The GLRCE is governed by a configuration of advisory committees. An internal GLRCE Executive Board (EB) is the primary governing entity and is comprised of representatives from each member institution of the GLRCE. The EB reviews all of the science that is funded by the center and makes programmatic decisions regarding the focus of the research. The GLRCE also elicits programmatic guidance from an External Scientific Advisory Committee and a Board of Industrial Partners to assure that appropriate research tools and intellectual property are identified, protected, shared, and commercialized. In addition, the NIAID who is the federal agency which conceived of and funds the RCE program is actively involved in programmatic decisions.