While the tracker provides an “evidence base” to inform decision-makers how to address pandemics , Nuzzo said the tracker’s primary purpose was to help Brown researchers share real-time pandemic information with the public.

Led by Jennifer Nuzzo , director of the Pandemic Center and professor of epidemiology at SPH, the tracker helps public and policy makers stay on top of disease outbreaks during a time of economic strain and political polarization .

Originally launched to track major pandemic outbreaks in the US and around the world, Brown University School of Public Health’s Pandemic Tracker now helps with a wide range of public health efforts.

Nuzzo told the Globe how the Pandemic Tracker, which has nearly 10,000 subscribers, has become a go-to resource for virus trends, “especially as federal communications have slowed,” according to the Pandemic Center’s website. “Many local health departments are now relying on this tool to fill some of the gaps in federal guidance, anecdotally at least.”

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Q. The Pandemic Tracker has garnered public attention. Why do you think people look to the newsletter for information?

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Nuzzo: People are worried about potential threats and what it means for them. They’re looking for trusted information and unfortunately these days I think people are questioning whether the information coming out of our health agencies is correct. … One of the reasons why we are also tracking this information is because there had been … a lot of change in terms of what data federal health agencies were sharing. We decided to start going directly to state health departments for information.

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Pandemic Center Director Jennifer Nuzzo at a meeting for a new edition of the Tracking Report. Foreground: Research Assistant Alice Im. Kenneth Zirkel

How has data changed since COVID-19?

Where I do see a difference is that the measles data for instance, the data that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports, is delayed and that’s just because of a difference in methodology. They only report when they have confirmed cases so that’s sometimes several weeks out of date.

How is the information you present different than the CDC website?

I don’t want to give the sense something nefarious is happening. It’s not nefarious. Where we have concerning discrepancies is in interpretation of data. There’s a period of time where the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., when getting questions about these measles outbreaks that are happening in the United States, responded by saying, “Oh, they’re petering out or plateauing” or something like that. When we looked at the data, we did not see evidence of that.

Initially, the CDC was only showing a very cursory summary of measles cases. It wasn’t showing the breakdown, whether they’re hospitalized, or you know, the vaccination status. … There’s now better data on CDC’s website, but initially there wasn’t. Part of why we’re doing this exercise is if something changes we’re ready to fill in the gaps.

Why is it so surprising that this measles outbreak is happening?

United States eliminated measles in 2000. There is no good reason why any country with the technical and financial resources of the United States should have measles, period. It’s not to say that other countries haven’t struggled with measles outbreaks — they have — including, other high-income countries like us, but measles elimination status is determined by how quickly you respond and contain the outbreaks.

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The latest Pandemic Tracker highlights measles, mpox, avian influenza, cholera, seasonal influenza, COVID-19, and pertussis. What is the importance of tracking these diseases?

It’s based on what’s going on in the world. For instance, a few months ago, we were very actively tracking norovirus in the US because we were seeing these big outbreaks. Last week, we decided we’re not going to report more norovirus anymore because there’s nothing really going on with it. The list changes. What we are looking for is the acute events.

Are you seeing an influx of people signing up for the weekly newsletter who are craving good, scientific information?

I think there’s always going to be a role for independent expert voices.

People want to hear from people in their community. I do think, now, that people are very worried about the integrity of our health agencies, about funding cuts that make it harder to do the important work and research that keeps people healthy. … The American people, despite the headlines, trust scientists, they value scientific research, and they want more of it.

On the Pandemic Tracker website, you have a program called AWARE. Talk about the global pandemic early warning system intended to “rapidly detect future outbreaks of infectious diseases with epidemic or pandemic potential?”

It’s part of the Global Health Exemplars Program. We’re studying really interesting approaches to surveillance in four low- and middle-income countries. What we’re learning is applicable to all countries, but these are countries who are doing things with surveillance that are starting to allow them not to just understand when an outbreak happens and figure that out early, but perhaps to give them a better sense of what are the conditions that make outbreaks more likely to occur. And then, perhaps, take action to prevent them from occurring in the first place.

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Can you talk a little bit about use of wastewater testing?

I think one important innovation that came out of the pandemic … is wastewater surveillance and the increased understanding of it as a potential tool for monitoring infections in a community. We are now using wastewater to monitor other things: influenza, mpox, and it’s now just starting to be used for measles. We have been seeing signals of measles infections in states that hadn’t yet reported measles cases. This is important because we think that measles cases are being under-detected in the US and wastewater data is giving us even more indication of that.

On the site there is a “testing playbook” for biological emergencies. Can you share more about preparedness and response to these emergencies?

If we have to think of what’s the single biggest thing that went wrong in the US response to COVID, it was that we didn’t quickly establish and scale up the availability of testing. It was a well-acknowledged challenge and yet in 2022 when the mpox outbreaks started happening in the United States, yet again, we were hearing clinicians saying, ‘I can’t get my patient tested.’ There were tests available, but it just wasn’t where the patients were. We decided to write the testing playbook to better clarify the different approaches to testing to give busy decision-makers a better set of questions to be asking in response to a biological emergency.

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Here are a few ways to follow Brown University SPH’s Pandemic Tracker:

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The Boston Globe’s weekly Ocean State Innovators column features a Q&A with Rhode Island innovators who are starting new businesses and nonprofits, conducting groundbreaking research, and reshaping the state’s economy. Send tips and suggestions to reporter Alexa Gagosz at alexa.gagosz@globe.com.

Carlos Muñoz can be reached at carlos.munoz@globe.com. Follow him @ReadCarlos and on Instagram @Carlosbrknews.