About the Center
The University of California San Francisco’s (UCSF) Center for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (CPPR) unites interdisciplinary experts, domestic and global partners in responding to current pandemics and preventing emerging pandemic-related threats.
For the last three decades, UCSF has been leading innovative public health responses, with unparalleled expertise in pandemic science. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the city of San Francisco’s civic leadership and health infrastructure collaborated rapidly and effectively with UCSF to realize the most agile public health response seen anywhere in the United States. Building on that track record, CPPR will pilot and scale solutions and lay the groundwork for evidence-based decision- making in support of global strategies to prepare, respond to, and prevent future pandemics.
Our goals are to enhance global efforts towards readiness, response, and resilience to effectively deal with the biggest threats to health systems around the world.
How We Work
Readiness
Advance technologies and public health strategies to help predict threats and maximize readiness to control emerging epidemics and outbreaks.
Response
Translate evidence and implement comprehensive countermeasures to enable rapid and effective responses to emerging global health threats.
Resilience
Create tools and strategies to strengthen public health system resilience in the face of threats and disruptions.
Research
Leverage multidisciplinary research expertise to answer critical scientific and operational questions to ensure that all our actions are evidence-informed and equity- focused.
Mission
To respond effectively to current pandemics and prevent future pandemic-related threats, CPPR will translate research into actionable solutions across its four pillars of impact: readiness, response, resilience, and research.
Our Story
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, UCSF’s Institute of Global Health Sciences (IGHS) put together a team of public health professionals, doctors, and epidemiologists to address the growing crisis. This team worked with the city of San Francisco and the state of California to train contact tracers and case investigators to slow the spread of COVID-19. As the team grew and took on new pandemic-related projects, it became the UCSF Pandemic Initiative for Equity and Action (UPIEA).
In 2022, IGHS launched the Center for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (CPPR). Today, UPIEA’s projects operate under the auspices of the Center, as well as other pandemic-related initiatives within IGHS.
UPIEA’s legacy continues through many of CPPR’s ongoing projects, team members, mission and values, and commitment to making public health accessible to all. CPPR’s portfolio includes a variety of projects, all with the goal of building transformative public health solutions that empower community partners, advance equity, and save lives. CPPR seeks to transform health by supporting partners to advance evidence-based public health policies and practices that prioritize the needs of historically discriminated against and marginalized communities.
