Grant: Project Grant

Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging human virus first identified in Africa in 1947. Following its probable introduction into Brazil in 2013, the virus has rapidly spread in at least 26 countries in the Americas. In April 2016, the World Health Organization declared the ZIKV outbreak a public health emergency of international concern and acknowledged the causal relationship between congenital ZIKV infection and infant microcephaly and other severe brain anomalies (ZIKV congenital syndrome). The ZIKV outbreak has produced a major health burden in Brazil with 7830 suspected cases of ZIKV congenital syndrome reported. In Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada has reported 137 laboratory-confirmed cases of ZIKV infection, including 7 pregnant women. Although ZIKV was first reported 70 years ago, no licensed diagnostic test, specific treatment, or vaccine exists. To address the urgent need for molecular diagnostic technologies and therapeutic armamentarium for ZIKV infection, this 5-year CIHR project grant, consisting of a new interdisciplinary team of distinguished scientists at UBC [Drs. Jean, Andersen, Foster, Nabi, Vogl in collaboration with Dr. O'Keefe (National Cancer Institute, USA) and Dr. Vasconcelos, (Instituto Evandro Chagas, Brazil)], will perform interdisciplinary cutting-edge research in novel diagnostic technologies and antiviral drug discovery for ZIKV infections. The team will also provide a unique world-class interdisciplinary training program in Canada to highly qualified personnel, who will become the next generation of scientific leaders in the field of emerging flaviviruses.