The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) has established a pandemic preparedness research network for research on pathogens that are the most likely to threaten human health.
Many of the diseases caused by these pathogens currently have no effective vaccines or therapeutics and present global threats.
In a statement, the NIH said that its new Research and Development of Vaccines and Monoclonal Antibodies for Pandemic Preparedness network (ReVAMPP) will focus its research efforts on "prototype pathogens," representative pathogens from virus families known to infect humans, prioritizing pathogens that have the potential to cause deadly diseases. Work on these prototype pathogens can then be applied to other related pathogens.
In focusing their research on developing vaccines and monoclonal antibodies, the members of the ReVAMPP network intend to build a framework for a faster, more effective response if one of the pathogens from the targeted virus families emerges as a pandemic threat.
The Research Triangle Institute (RTI) in Durham, NC, will lead a centralized coordination and data sharing center for the network. The research centers within the ReVAMPP network will standardize their methodologies to readily share their results and collaborate.
The ReVAMPP network aims to focus on viruses from the Flaviviridae family, which includes the following:
- Viruses that cause dengue and yellow fever
- The Paramyxoviridae family, which contains viruses that cause measles, mumps, and Nipah-induced encephalitis
- The Picornaviridae family, which includes viruses that cause poliomyelitis, foot-and-mouth disease, and myocarditis
- The Togaviridae family, which contains viruses that cause Chikungunya virus-induced arthralgia and encephalitis, as well as Venezuelan equine encephalitis
- Viruses from five different families within the Bunyavirales order, including the Sin Nombre virus from the Hantaviridae family
- Viruses that cause Rift Valley fever (Phenuiviridae), Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever (Nairoviridae), Oropouche fever (Peribunyaviridae), and Lassa fever (Arenaviridae) will be researched.
The NIH said that its National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases expects to commit approximately $100 million per year to fund the program, depending on the availability of funds.
Participating research centers that are recipients for the NIH funding include the following:
- The Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York City
- RTI; Research Triangle Park; Durham, NC
- The University of California, Irvine; Irvine, CA
- The University of Texas Medical Branch; Galveston, TX
- The University of Washington, Seattle
- The Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Nashville, TN
- Washington University, St. Louis
