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University of Washington tapped for national program to fight emerging diseases
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University of Washington researchers have been selected to join a $31 million NIH-funded program developed to improve responses to global emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, according to a university press release.
“Emerging viruses are a major threat to global public health, especially because few antivirals are available to treat patients,” Michael Katze, PhD, professor of microbiology at the University of Washington (UW) and head of the UW research team, said in the release. “There is a significant need for methods to rapidly identify newly emergent pathogens, but also to guide medical treatments and to quickly contain outbreaks.”
Figure 1. Michael Katze, PhD, and Angela Rasmussen, PhD, of the University of Washington, are studying host responses to infections to develop countermeasures to new viral pathogens. They are part of a NIH program developed to counteract emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases and bioterrorism agents.
Source: Rose Howard/University of Washington
UW will join seven other US institutions in the Center for Research in Diagnostic and Discovery, a consortium of experts from various scientific backgrounds, including microbial ecology, genetics, engineering and public health, led by W. Ian Lipkin, MD, of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Katze and colleagues will receive approximately $5 million during the next 5 years to continue work on several pathogens, including Ebola, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), avian influenza and other emerging diseases.
The UW team’s project manager, Angela Rasmussen, PhD, said the center will allow its researchers to develop novel diagnostic tools and identify ways to repurpose existing treatments for new infections and biodefense. Additionally, the researchers will study host responses to infections, using computer modeling, genetic analyses and mathematics to measure disease severity, which can aid in the diagnosis and management of infections.
The researchers said they hope these combined efforts will ultimately improve the ability to prevent and treat unidentified pathogens in the future.