Effective May 1, 2014, the National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense (FAZD Center) has become the Institute for Infectious Animal Diseases (IIAD). While our name is changing, our mission—to perform research and develop products to defend the nation from high-consequence emerging and zoonotic diseases—remains the same. [Source: IIAD Press Release.]
Over the past several years, the FAZD Center has enjoyed success with new partners and projects across the U.S. and around the globe. As our work begins to encompass a broader audience in the animal health realm, we’ve taken a close look at how we present our work and ourselves to these audiences. In an effort to clarify our expanded, multidisciplinary mission and allow our national and global partners to have a greater understanding of our scope and capacity, the FAZD Center is getting a new name.
“This is an important day in the history of the Institute,” said Tammy R. Beckham, DVM, PhD, and Institute director. “The new name signals our continued commitment to serving the animal and public health sectors while working alongside our valued partners in government, academia and industry both domestically and globally.”
The Institute will continue to focus on developing solutions for transboundary, emerging and zoonotic animal diseases. The Institute remains a Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Center of Excellence and will continue to leverage the resources of our international, national, state and local partners.
For more information and updated contact information, visit http://iiad.tamu.edu. Follow us on Twitter at @IIADnews for the latest updates on the Institute’s work.