The Gass Lab has been asked to join the APPEX Center, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, which will meaningfully advance pandemic science as a multidisciplinary effort. We will help ensure that the vision of pandemic science is not simply about filling in knowledge gaps but is about framing how to meet complex challenges, improving both our ability to respond to existing disease threats and to be flexible, nimble, and adaptable to the next emerging pathogen we cannot yet anticipate.