F

lorida Atlantic will receive $199,280 to research the Zika virus further as part of a nearly $25 million grants package made by Florida Governor Rick Scott.

The total, which was announced today through Scott’s website in a release, is being given out in order to get a better understanding of the virus and to create cost effective methods of fighting it.

FAU’s money was given specifically to create a system to rapidly detect the Zika virus, according to the release.

According to the Florida Department of Health website, 168 people were infected with the Zika virus in 2016, with all cases being travel related. Sixty-one people were infected in Palm Beach county during the year.

The University of Miami was given the most money out of all the schools in the grant program, receiving $13,170,784 of state funding. The Scripps Research Institute, which is located on the Jupiter campus, received the same amount of money as FAU.

“I look forward to seeing the innovation and progress of Florida’s world-class research institutions as we continue to work together in the fight against Zika and to find a vaccine,” Scott said.

Schools who received funding:

University of Miami – $13,170,784

University of Florida – $2,922,999

University of South Florida – $2,458,995

Florida International University – $2,183,004

Florida State University – $2,169,675

University of Central Florida – $1,297,817

Nova Southeastern University – $198,886

Florida Atlantic University – $199,280

Moffitt Cancer Center – $199,280

The Scripps Research Institute – $199,280

Ryan Lynch is the editor in chief of the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @RyanLynchwriter.