About CPEZ
A collaborative research consortium applying One Health science to protect human, animal, and environmental health in Bangladesh.
What is CPEZ?
The Consortium for Pathogen Ecology and Zoonoses (CPEZ) is an international academic partnership dedicated to understanding and mitigating the growing threat of zoonotic and emerging infectious diseases at the human–animal–environment interface in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh presents a uniquely challenging environment for infectious disease emergence. Its dense population, close contact with livestock and wildlife, rapidly changing land use, and environmental pressures create conditions that favor pathogen spillover from animals to humans. Diseases such as Nipah virus, dengue, and chikungunya represent active and persistent threats — yet critical gaps remain in our understanding of their ecological drivers and in the capacity to effectively track and mitigate outbreaks.
CPEZ was established to address these gaps through rigorous collaborative science, sustained capacity building, and direct engagement with public health policy.
Our One Health Approach
One Health recognizes that the health of people, animals, and the environment are deeply interconnected. No single discipline can fully understand or address the complex drivers of zoonotic disease emergence. CPEZ operationalizes this framework by bringing together veterinary medicine, human epidemiology, molecular virology, ecology, and environmental science under one collaborative structure.
Human Health
Epidemiological surveillance, serological studies, and community health research to understand disease burden and transmission pathways in human populations.
Animal Health
Field studies in livestock, wildlife, and bat populations to identify reservoir hosts, monitor pathogen circulation, and understand spillover risk.
Environment
Drone-based habitat mapping, environmental sampling, and ecological modeling to link landscape change with disease emergence risk.
Mission & Objectives
Our mission is to conduct collaborative research, training, and outreach focused on pathogen ecology and emerging infectious disease threats, with a primary focus on Bangladesh and the broader South and Southeast Asian region.
We pursue this mission through four core objectives:
1. High-Impact Research
Conduct rigorous, policy-relevant science on priority pathogens including Nipah virus, arboviruses, and antimicrobial resistance.
2. Capacity Building
Train the next generation of Bangladeshi scientists through hands-on fieldwork, laboratory training, and mentored research.
3. Policy Translation
Serve as a trusted scientific partner for government agencies including IEDCR, DLS, DGHS, and DoE to link evidence to public health action.
4. Sustainable Infrastructure
Build enduring research systems, laboratory capacity, and funding pipelines that outlast any single grant cycle.
Partner Institutions
CPEZ unites three universities across three continents, each contributing distinct and complementary expertise.
Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (CVASU)
Chittagong, Bangladesh
CVASU serves as the central hub for all in-country research and field activities. It provides local expertise, community access, field research infrastructure, and direct engagement with Bangladeshi public health stakeholders. CVASU hosts the consortium’s dedicated laboratory space and leads in-country student training.
University of Pécs
Pécs, Hungary
The University of Pécs contributes internationally recognized expertise in bat virology and mobile laboratory diagnostics through the National Virology Laboratory. Its role centers on molecular diagnostic support, bat pathogen surveillance, and rapid field laboratory deployment.
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
UW–Madison contributes expertise in pathogen ecology, advanced epidemiological modeling, spatial risk mapping, and quantitative methods. It leads analytical frameworks for disease risk assessment and supports consortium-wide research design and publication strategy.
Governance
CPEZ operates under a formal Memorandum of Understanding signed September 1, 2025, establishing clear roles, responsibilities, and decision-making structures across all three institutions.
Steering Committee — The three Co-Directors hold ultimate authority over strategic direction, major research initiatives, grant proposals, and new partnerships. Decisions on major issues require unanimous consent.
Center Coordinator — Manages day-to-day operations, communication, scheduling, and administrative functions. Reports directly to the Steering Committee.
Project Manager — Leads execution of specific grant-funded projects, reporting to project PIs and the Steering Committee on overall project health.
Advisory Board — Senior experts providing high-level strategic guidance on advocacy, epidemiology, field research, and wildlife ecology.
Funding & Support
Initial startup funding for Year 1 has been secured through the Horizon grant (Hungarian Government). Additional funding applications are actively underway through BANBEIS and other national and international sources.
CPEZ is committed to long-term financial sustainability through diversified funding from competitive grants, international partnerships, and collaborative research agreements.
Current funding applications include:
- Evaluation of an affordable mosquito-borne disease early-warning platform integrating molecular entomological and arboviral surveillance in Bangladesh
- Serological and molecular identification and genotyping of Toxoplasma gondii from spontaneous aborted fetuses of women in Bangladesh: Towards vaccine development