As recently announced by WashU Medicine, scientists are laying the groundwork for future pandemics by studying five families of understudied viruses. Supported by more than $90 million in grants from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) over the next three years, the initiative aims to develop vaccines and antibody-based therapies. One grant targets alphaviruses and flaviviruses, while the other addresses respiratory and insect-borne viruses.
I2DB faculty members Charles Goss, PhD, and J. Philip Miller head the data management cores for the ReVAMPP flavivirus and alphavirus program and the ReVAMPP paramyxovirus, peribunyavirus and phlebovirus program, respectively. Their work is crucial for future pandemic preparedness.
The Flavivirus and Alphavirus ReVAMPP (FLARE) program will develop prevention platforms for five prototype viruses representing major subgroups of the flavivirus and alphavirus families. Led by Michael S. Diamond, MD, PhD, the Herbert S. Gasser Professor of Medicine at WashU Medicine, the team includes co-director Richard Kuhn, PhD, the Trent and Judith Anderson Distinguished Professor of Science at Purdue University and Krenicki Family Director of the Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Disease, and collaborators at 16 other institutions nationwide.
“I am excited to participate in the ReVAMPP research network,” Goss said. “The research projects at the Flavavirus and Alphavirus ReVAMPP (FLARE) center will both advance our understanding of these viruses and strengthen our preparedness for future pandemics.”
The Vaccines and Therapeutic Antibodies to Respiro, Rubula, Peribunya and Phenuiviridae ReVAMPP (R2P2) program is led by Sean Whelan, PhD, the Marvin A. Brennecke Distinguished Professor and head of the Department of Molecular Microbiology at WashU Medicine, with co-directors Anne Moscona, MD, a professor of pediatrics at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and Rino Rappuoli, PhD, the scientific director of the Fondazione Biotecnopolo di Siena in Italy, and collaborators at 10 other institutions across the U.S., Italy, Brazil, and Germany.
“I appreciate the opportunity to be part of NIH’s effort to be better prepared for future potential pandemics by working to develop vaccines for many viruses,” Miller said.
Read more about the recent grants and projects.