The Northwest Regional Center of Excellence (NWRCE) for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases focuses on research to help protect the public from potential bioterrorism, and diseases that present persistent and emerging threats to global health.

The NWRCE is one of ten regional Regional Centers of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research. These centers have been established by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) , a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of the Department of Health and Human Services. NIAID supports basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose and treat infectious and immune-mediated illnesses.

The NWRCE is an academic program of basic research, education, and training in biodefense and emerging infectious diseases. The University of Washington is the recipient of this Center, which is internationally recognized for its infectious disease research and clinical faculty. The Northwest RCE also includes investigators from other leading research institutions located throughout Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho and Oregon. The Center conducts basic and applied research on bacterial pathogenesis with the goal of using that information to develop new treatments, vaccines and related technologies. The emphasis of the NWRCE research program takes advantage of the broad range of our investigators’ experience in Gram-negative bacterial pathogenesis.