On Oct. 8, 2020, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) launched the Serological Sciences Network for COVID-19 (SeroNet), an initiative aimed at quickly increasing the nation’s antibody testing capacity and engaging the U.S. research community to understand the immune response to COVID-19. NCI is part of the National Institutes of Health.

SeroNet will engage more than 25 of the nation’s top academic, government and private sector biomedical research institutions to study the immune response to COVID-19 to speed delivery of testing, treatments and vaccine development for combat the pandemic.

As part of the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, Congress authorized $306 million for NCI to develop, validate, improve, and implement serological testing and associated technologies. SeroNet is the largest of NCI’s serological science initiatives funded by the COVID-19 emergency appropriation, accounting for more than half of the allocation.