{"id":6214,"date":"2024-07-12T11:20:04","date_gmt":"2024-07-12T15:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/ceid\/?page_id=6214"},"modified":"2026-04-13T12:50:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T16:50:18","slug":"beacon","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/ceid\/projects-partnerships\/beacon\/","title":{"rendered":"Biothreats Emergence, Analysis and Communications Network (BEACON)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/h3>\n

BEACON is now live. Visit beaconbio.org<\/a> for the latest infectious disease updates.<\/h3>\n

The COVID-19 pandemic illustrated in stark and searing terms the need to improve the ability of communities globally to detect emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) and coordinate their responses to these threats. Global early detection, rapid transparent reporting, and open information sharing regarding potential biological incidents are critical. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Biothreats Emergence, Analysis and Communications Network (BEACON)<\/a> is dedicated to the rapid collection, vetting, reporting, and analysis of information on emerging threats affecting humans, domestic animals, wildlife, plants, and the environment globally. BEACON combines emerging infectious diseases surveillance, a global network of moderators who are subject matter experts, and the power of artificial intelligence and large language models.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The program is based at Boston University\u2019s Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases (CEID) and operated in partnership with the Hariri Institute for Computing and Data Sciences<\/a> at Boston University and HealthMap<\/a> at Boston Children’s Hospital. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At its launch, BEACON is the only open-source global surveillance platform of its kind, linking public health authorities, practitioners, researchers, and the general public, rapidly and transparently sharing data and contextual knowledge about new threats. <\/span><\/span><\/span>By providing early warnings of sentinel cases, clusters, and outbreaks, BEACON enables early public health response.<\/span><\/p>\n

BEACON is funded in part by the\u00a0<\/span>National Science Foundation<\/a>, the\u00a0<\/span>Gates Foundation<\/a>, the\u00a0<\/span>Chen Institute<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Pax Sapiens<\/a>, CEPI<\/a>, and <\/span>Boston University<\/a>, as well as generous donations from individuals and family foundations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/span>Questions about BEACON? Contact us at info@beaconbio.org<\/a>.<\/span><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEACON is now live. Visit beaconbio.org for the latest infectious disease updates. The COVID-19 pandemic illustrated in stark and searing terms the need to improve the ability of communities globally to detect emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) and coordinate their responses to these threats. Global early detection, rapid transparent reporting, and open information sharing regarding potential […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16289,"featured_media":0,"parent":124,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/no-sidebars.php","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/ceid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6214"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/ceid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/ceid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/ceid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16289"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/ceid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6214"}],"version-history":[{"count":42,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/ceid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8309,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/ceid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6214\/revisions\/8309"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/ceid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/ceid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}