UCLA has been awarded more than $6 million over four years by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to support research for countering threats from bioterrorism agents and infectious diseases. UCLA will be a major component of the Pacific Southwest Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research, a consortium of more than a dozen universities and research institutes in California, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii.

“Our hope is to increase fundamental knowledge on bacterial and viral pathogens and help mitigate the bioterrorism threat,” said Jeffery F. Miller, professor and chair of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics at UCLA, and the center’s associate director for basic research.