The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has awarded Kansas State University $12 million for The Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases (CEEZAD).

The CEEZAD will use K-State's expertise and state-of-the-art infrastructure to conduct research, develop technology, and train a specialized workforce to successfully defend our nation's agriculture economy against agro-terrorism and emerging animal pathogens.  The center will develop and validate vaccines; create innovative devices to detect and diagnose threatening diseases; and help implement systems to curtail human and animal disease threats.  Dr. Juergen Richt, Kansas Bioscience Authority Eminent Scholar and Regents Distinguished Professor at K-State, will direct the center.

This is the third such major award for the KC Animal Health Corridor , following the federal government's selection of Manhattan, Kan., as the best place in the country to build the $725 million National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's announcement in November that it will relocate the Arthropod-Borne Animal Disease Research Laboratory from Wyoming to Kansas.

About DHS Centers of Excellence
Centers of Excellence bring together leading experts and researchers to conduct multidisciplinary research and education for homeland security solutions. Each center is led by a university in collaboration with partners from other institutions, agencies, laboratories, think tanks, and the private sector.

Kansas State University competed for the center of excellence designation through a three-step process that involved external peer review, internal subject matter expert review, and site visits. Reviewers considered a range of factors, including the quality and relevance of the research programs, management plans, and application plans.