FYI Miami: April 13, 2017

Below are some of the FYIs in this week’s edition. The entire content of this week’s FYIs and Insider sections is available by subscription only. To subscribe click here.

WORKING TO STREAMLINE: Miami has been selected as one of 10 cities to participate in Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Works Cities initiative – one of the largest efforts to enhance the use of data and evidence in the public sector. The city will receive technical assistance from world-class experts to address local issues. Miami’s first priority as part of this initiative is to streamline the building and permitting process. Miami’s selection was announced by former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg at the second annual What Works Cities Summit in New York City. From Miami, Chief Innovation Officer Mike Sarasti and Strategic Planning and Performance Manager Cheriene Floyd attended. There are 77 mid-sized US cities partnering with What Works Cities. Miami is one of the latest to commit to enhancing its use of data and evidence to improve services, inform local decision-making and engage residents.

ZIKA VACCINE TRIALS HERE: The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine will soon begin one of the nation’s first full-scale Zika vaccine clinical trials testing the National Institutes of Health’s experimental DNA-based vaccine. An endemic region is critical to help determine the vaccine’s safety, effective dosage and whether it can effectively prevent disease caused by Zika. The Miami arm of the study will be led by Margaret Fischl, a UM infectious disease physician and scientist with the University of Miami Health System and Miller School. “The vaccine is really important in Miami because we saw the nation’s first cases of locally-acquired Zika, which needed a more immediate response,” she said. “A Zika vaccine was an important effort to respond to the Zika outbreak.” Researchers will initially recruit individuals from Miami-Dade, who will be given the vaccine in varying dosages to test safety.

NEW COLLEGE CERTIFICATIONS: Miami Dade College’s School of Engineering and Technology will offer three new college credit certifications in the fall and the School of Education will offer a certificate in instructional design and technology. The engineering and technology certificates are an engineering and technology support specialist 18-credit-hour certificate; a mechanitronics 30-credit-hour certificate and a 12-credit-hour rapid prototyping certificate that prepares students for entry-level jobs in high tech production, manufacturing, distribution and engineering research and development facilities. The instructional design and technology certificate is 15 credit hours. Open registration begins May 22.