USU Recognized for Contributions to Biodefense Research
The Uniformed Services University is part of a Mid-Atlantic region university consortium that was selected as one of eight national Regional Centers of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research (RCE). The RCE program will receive close to $350 million in grants over a five-year period from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Alison O'Brien, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Microbiology at USU, Christopher Broder, Ph.D. and Gerald Quinnan, M.D., Professor and Chair of Preventive Medicine are the participating investigators from USU making up the 60-plus scientists in the Mid-Atlantic RCE who will serve as either investigators, co-investigators or collaborators.
As Dr. Quinnan explains, USU will play a major role in the Mid-Atlantic RCE. "This is the chance for the University to be part of the leadership in biodefense research--a chance for us to grow and develop this research on the prevention, treatment and diagnosis of diseases caused by bioterrorism agents, as well as agents of emerging and infectious diseases, with particular emphasis on the most dangerous Category A biodefense agents."
The research projects of the Mid-Atlantic RCE examine the biology and immunology of, as well as develop therapeutics and vaccines for, the following diseases: anthrax; hemorrhagic fever and other emerging viruses, including henipaviruses, bunyaviruses, West Nile, Ebola and Marburg; poxviruses; tularemia; and low-dose enteric pathogens.
According to NIH officials, the RCE program's primary goal is to foster the physical and intellectual environments in which the wide-ranging research on infectious diseases may proceed productively and safely.
Other member institutions of the Mid-Atlantic RCE include: University of Maryland School of Medicine (lead institution), Johns Hopkins University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Virginia, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, University of Pittsburgh, George Washington University, Georgetown University, West Virginia University, Drexel University, University of Vermont, University of Missouri, Kansas City, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and Virginia Commonwealth University.