Austin, Texas chief medical officer Mark Escott, MD, has been named a project leader for the University of Texas Austin Center for Pandemic Decision Science, a team being assembled with a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
Dr. Escott, who led Austin-Travis County's fight against COVID-19, will work with scientists, engineers, clinicians and leaders across the U.S. to improve public health responses to pandemics.
The center will tackle three challenges: anticipation of novel pathogen threats, influencing government responses to threats, and integrating science into decision-making.
"Austin and Travis County’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been praised for limiting the impact of the disease on our community," Dr. Escott said in an Oct. 18 press release. "In particular, the staged risk guidelines used by Austin Public Health have served as a national model for using science to shape policy and community decision-making. We are grateful for the trust placed in us by the National Science Foundation to develop a plan to improve responses to future pandemics across the United States and beyond."