CHARM Network

The Community and Household Acute Respiratory Illness Monitoring (CHARM) Network is a national, multi-site research consortium funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CHARM is dedicated to understanding the epidemiology, transmission, and immune dynamics of respiratory viruses within communities. The network brings together epidemiologists, clinicians, immunologists, virologists, data scientists, and public health practitioners to conduct longitudinal community-based cohort studies and case-ascertained household transmission studies across diverse populations and geographic regions.

CHARM integrates real-time multi-pathogen diagnostics, viral genomics, longitudinal clinical and behavioral data, and immunologic measurements to characterize infection risk, disease burden, transmission dynamics, and the impact of vaccination and other preventive interventions. By harmonizing data collection and analytics across sites, the network provides timely, actionable insights into changes in respiratory virus circulation, severity, and population immunity.

The research generated by the CHARM Network strengthens public health preparedness and response by enabling rapid detection of emerging threats, evaluating intervention effectiveness under real-world conditions, and informing evidence-based policy and clinical decision-making to reduce morbidity, mortality, and health inequities associated with respiratory viral diseases

Funded centers
Preparedness through Respiratory Virus Epidemiology and Community Engagement (PREVENT)
PI: Louise Laurent, University of California, San Diego

The Community and Household Acute Respiratory Illness Monitoring Study (Boston CHARM)
PI: Kathryn Stephenson, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

The Seattle Pandemic Preparedness Cohort (SeaPrep) Study
PI: Helen Chu, University of Washington

PREVENT Logo

PREVENT (Preparedness through Respiratory Virus Epidemiology and Community Engagement) is a research center focused on understanding and mitigating the spread of respiratory viruses in communities.

Led by UC San Diego, PREVENT brings together academic institutions, healthcare systems, and community partners to build a large-scale surveillance and response framework. The center integrates community-level monitoring with detailed studies of household transmission, using approaches that include genomic sequencing, environmental sampling, and advanced data analytics.

As the Data and Analytics Hub for the CHARM Network, co-led by Scripps Research and UC San Diego, PREVENT plays a central role in organizing, analyzing, and sharing data to support pandemic preparedness and coordinated public health responses nationwide.

The Boston CHARM (Community and Household Acute Respiratory Illness Monitoring) is a research study enrolling individuals and households across the Greater Boston Area.

The study aims to understand how respiratory illnesses spread in communities and households, how they affect daily life, and how transmission can be reduced. Study activities include symptom surveys, nasal swabs, and blood draws for some participants, with an emphasis on enrolling entire households to examine person-to-person spread.

Boston CHARM is conducted by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in partnership with the CDC-funded CHARM Network.

The Seattle Pandemic Preparedness Cohort (SeaPrep) is a five-year research study led by the University of Washington and funded through the CHARM Network.

SeaPrep monitors the circulation, evolution, and health impacts of 26 respiratory pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, influenza, and RSV, with the goal of informing public health responses and vaccine development. The study combines a longitudinal community cohort of approximately 2,000 participants with focused household investigations of confirmed respiratory viral infections.

Participants contribute symptom surveys and self-collected nasal swabs, supported by home testing for selected pathogens. For viruses of particular interest, viral genomes are sequenced to characterize circulating strains and identify emerging variants.