WashU Medicine Leads Two Major Pandemic Preparedness Research Projects

NIH Releases Mpox Research Agenda

The NIAID mpox research agenda focuses on four key objectives: increasing knowledge about the biology of all clades—also known as strains—of the virus that causes mpox, including how the virus is transmitted and how people’s immune systems respond to it; evaluating dosing regimens of current vaccines to stretch the vaccine supply and developing novel vaccine concepts; advancing existing and novel treatments, including antivirals and monoclonal antibodies; and supporting strategies for detecting the virus to facilitate clinical care and epidemiological surveillance.

Contact

Submit a Media Request

Contact the NIAID News & Science Writing Branch.

301-402-1663
niaidnews@niaid.nih.gov
All Media Contacts

NIH Awards Establish Pandemic Preparedness Research Network

The Research and Development of Vaccines and Monoclonal Antibodies for Pandemic Preparedness network—called ReVAMPP—will focus its research efforts on “prototype pathogens,” representative pathogens from virus families known to infect humans, and high-priority pathogens that have the potential to cause deadly diseases. The pandemic preparedness research network will conduct research on high-priority pathogens most likely to threaten human health with the goal of developing effective vaccines and monoclonal antibodies.

Contact

Submit a Media Request

Contact the NIAID News & Science Writing Branch.

301-402-1663
niaidnews@niaid.nih.gov
All Media Contacts

Emergency Department Screening More Than Doubles Detection of Syphilis Cases

Providing optional syphilis tests to most people seeking care at a large emergency department led to a dramatic increase in syphilis screening and diagnosis, according to study of nearly 300,000 emergency department encounters in Chicago. Most people diagnosed had no symptoms, which suggests that symptom-based testing strategies alone could miss opportunities to diagnose and treat people with syphilis.

Contact

Submit a Media Request

Contact the NIAID News & Science Writing Branch.

301-402-1663
niaidnews@niaid.nih.gov
All Media Contacts

Research and Development of Vaccines and Monoclonal Antibodies for Pandemic Preparedness (ReVAMPP)

In the wake of COVID-19, the need for pandemic preparedness has become increasingly apparent. The Research and Development of Vaccines and Monoclonal Antibodies for Pandemic Preparedness (ReVAMPP) Network conducts basic and translational research on representative viruses within a specific virus family, with the goal of developing effective vaccines and monoclonal antibodies for other viruses within that family. By leveraging the “prototype pathogen” approach, the ReVAMPP network lay the groundwork for a faster and more effective pandemic response, should a virus from one of the targeted families emerge as a pandemic threat. Currently, there are no vaccines or targeted therapeutics for many diseases caused by the selected virus families. 

The awards have been made to seven different US based research groups and one coordinating center. The Network works with NIAID, USG and global partners to share information and collaborate. 

Main Areas of Focus

ReVAMPP is a pandemic preparedness research network designed to conduct fundamental basic through IND-enabling translational research on representative viruses, or “prototype pathogens,” within specific virus families. The virus families that the ReVAMPP network study contain many viruses that have caused human disease for millennia—many of which have a high likelihood of becoming pandemic threats in the future. 

The ReVAMPP network focuses on viruses from the Flaviviridae family, which features viruses that cause dengue and yellow fever; the Paramyxoviridae family, which contains viruses that cause measles, mumps, and Nipah-induced encephalitis; the Picornaviridae family, whose members cause poliomyelitis, foot-and-mouth disease, and myocarditis; the Togaviridae family, which contains viruses that induce Chikungunya virus-induced arthralgia or encephalitis and Venezuelan equine encephalitis; as well as viruses from 5 different families within the Bunyavirales order, including Sin Nombre virus from the Hantaviridae family and the viruses that cause Rift Valley Fever (Phenuiviridae), Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (Nairoviridae), Oropouche Fever (Peribunyaviridae), and Lassa Fever (Arenaviridae):

The 9 viral families covered by the ReVAMPP network are:

  • Flaviviridae
  • Paramyxoviridae
  • Picornaviridae
  • Togaviridae
  • Arenaviridae
  • Hantaviridae
  • Nairoviridae
  • Phenuiviridae
  • Peribunyaviridae

RTI International will lead a centralized Coordination and Data Sharing Center, to provide support and coordination for the network. By standardizing methodologies, such as reagents, animal models, and data outputs, research centers that comprise the ReVAMPP network are able to easily share their results and collaborate to enhance the network’s efforts.

Locations

The award recipients are:

Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY

Project title: PROVIDENT:  Prepositioning Optimized Strategies for Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics against Diverse Emerging Infectious Threats
Principal investigator: Kartik Chandran, Ph.D.
Grant: 1 U19 AI181977-01

Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International, Research Triangle Park, NC

Project title: Coordinating and Data Sharing Center - R&D of Vaccines and Antibodies for Pandemic Preparedness (ReVAMPP)
Principal investigator: Gregory D. Sempowski, Ph.D.
Grant: 1 UG3 AI181797-01

University of California, Irvine, CA

Project title: The UCI Vaccines for Pandemic Preparedness Center (VPPC)
Principal investigator: Louis Philip Felgner, Ph.D.
Grant: 1 U19 AI181968-01

University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX

Project title: Paramyxoviridae and Bunyavirales Vaccines and Antibodies Center (PABVAX)
Principal investigator: Thomas William Geisbert, Ph.D.
Grant: 1 U19 AI181930-01

University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Project title: Machine learning-enabled design of prototype pathogen vaccines and antibodies
Principal investigator: Neil King, Ph.D.
Grant: 1 U19 AI181881-01

Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN

Project title: Bunyavirus and Picornavirus Pandemic Pathogen Preparedness (BP4) Center
Principal investigator: James E. Crowe, Jr., M.D.
Grant: 1 U19 AI181979-01

Washington University, St. Louis, MO

Project title: Flavivirus and Alphavirus ReVAMPP (FLARE)
Principal investigator: Michael S. Diamond, M.D., Ph.D.
Grant: 1 U19 AI181960-01

Washington University, St. Louis, MO

Project title: Vaccines and Therapeutic Antibodies to Respiro, Rubula, Peribunya and Phenuiviridae (R2P2)-ReVAMPP
Principal investigator: Sean P.J. Whelan, Ph.D.
Grant: 1 U19 AI181984-01

View the ReVAMPP clinical/hospital/study and laboratory locations in a larger map

Content Coordinator
Content Manager

Pharmacy Professor Lands $3.6 Million Grant to Develop Phages Cocktail to Fight Bacteria

Virologist Aims at Halting Dangerous Neurological Effects of Powassan Virus

Vaccine Shows Promise in Treating High Blood Sugar for Those with Long COVID

T Helper Cells May Be the Key to Improving Annual Influenza Vaccines

Publish or Event Date
Research Institution
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Short Title
T Helper Cells May Be the Key to Improving Annual Influenza Vaccines
Content Coordinator
Content Manager

HIV Prevention Medication Users Fear Being Stigmatized as “Promiscuous”