NIH awards $23 million for six new influzena research centers
Federal government gets serious by expanding the Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance program
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) — part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) — has announced the recipients of a total of $24 million to establish six Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance. The new awards build upon an ongoing program led by Memphis, Tennessee-based St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which was initiated by NIAID after the 1997 Hong Kong bird flu outbreak. The new centers will focus on determining the prevalence of avian influenza in animals that routinely come into close contact with people; understanding how flu viruses evolve, adapt and transmit infection; identifying immunological factors that can determine whether a flu virus causes only mild illness or death; and monitoring international and domestic cases of animal and human influenza.
The winners include:
BULLET POINTS
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis: Research activities will involve evaluating antiviral drug regimens and factors that drive drug resistance; identifying viral markers that may indicate how a virus becomes deadly, adapts and transmits infection; uncovering immune system mechanisms that protect against the H5N1 avian flu virus; and identifying the factors that make animals and people susceptible to flu virus infection.
University of California at Los Angeles: UCLA investigators will monitor animal influenza internationally and in the states of Alaska, Washington and California. They also will maintain a high-throughput laboratory network capable of providing real-time information about circulating influenza virus strains and antiviral drug resistance.
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis: These researchers will conduct international and domestic animal flu surveillance covering all major domestic flight paths of migratory birds. This center also will carry out a human influenza surveillance study in Thailand and will monitor U.S. agricultural workers who work with swine.
Emory University, Atlanta: This center will conduct studies to determine how influenza viruses adapt to new hosts and are transmitted between different hosts, and analyze human immune responses to influenza vaccination and infection. Emory will also offer a training program for postdoctoral fellows and veterinarians interested in influenza and other research performed in a biosafety level 3 laboratory.
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City: These researchers will conduct molecular studies to identify influenza virus genes associated with the development of disease, the adaptability of flu viruses in birds and mammals, and the transmission of flu viruses between different hosts.
University of Rochester, Rochester, New York: Researchers will establish a human surveillance system that will monitor selected communities in New York for seasonal flu virus infections, and will study the effectiveness of annual immunization programs using inactivated or weakened flu virus vaccines.
