The network was funded by $306 million in emergency appropriations from Congress in April 2020 that were designated for the mobilization of the research communities to better understand immune responses to SARS-CoV-2, the agent responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. SeroNet is led by the NCI, in close collaboration with a number of agencies including the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

SeroNet consists of five main components. The first is the Frederick National Laboratory Serology Lab, which evaluates commercially available antibody test kits and conducts seropositivity research projects. The lab is also developing a "standard" pooled serum that can be used by vaccine manufacturers and institutions producing convalescent plasma for treating COVID-19 patients. The NCI has also established a SeroNet Coordinating Center to foster collaboration across all SeroNet components.

The NCI established eight centers of excellence with grants valued at $815,000 to $2 million per year over five years to conduct multiple research projects to characterize immune responses to coronavirus infection and learn more about disease progression.

The NCI has also awarded researchers at 13 institutions with grants valued at $500,000 to $750,000 per year for five years to conduct individual research projects on basic and applied serology pertaining to COVID-19.

Lastly, the NCI has awarded subcontracts to four research institutions to act as capacity building centers that will test at least 5,000 people per week and return results to people tested.

From the research and projects conducted at these institutions, the NCI plans to develop a serology "dashboard" for the U.S. The data from the dashboard will be publicly available and will systematically document and track SARS-CoV-2 serology studies and associated results. Some of the data points that will be included in the interactive dashboard include the number of people tested, location of testing, type of assay used, and other demographic aspects. The information will be available on a state, county, and zip code level. The institute anticipates that this feature should be available within a months' time.