{"id":89,"date":"2023-10-19T15:47:27","date_gmt":"2023-10-19T19:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/?page_id=89"},"modified":"2023-12-05T01:28:30","modified_gmt":"2023-12-05T06:28:30","slug":"pathogen-busters","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/pathogen-busters\/","title":{"rendered":"Pathogen Busters"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Elke
Elke M\u00fchlberger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

HOW TO GO ANTIVIRAL<\/h3>\n

The next pandemic could be lurking, ready to strike, and Boston University researchers aren\u2019t waiting to find out.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

In early 2023, six of our scientists joined a $100 million effort to advance the understanding of dangerous pathogens<\/a>\u2014and help spur new ways to defeat or at least contain them.<\/span><\/p>\n

The HOWARD HUGHES MEDICAL INSTITUTE’S (HHMI) EMERGING PATHOGENS INITIATIVE<\/b> is pulling in 70 scientists from 29 organizations who will be part of teams working on the next generation of RNA-based antiviral therapies. BU\u2019s share of the funding will be $10.75 MILLION<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Among those contributing to the HHMI initiative is ELKE M\u00dcHLBERGER<\/b><\/a>, director of integrated science services at BU\u2019s NATIONAL EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES LABORATORIES<\/b><\/a> <\/b>(NEIDL). NEIDL is a state-of-the-art research facility that focuses on infectious diseases that are\u2014or can become\u2014public health threats. M\u00fchlberger is a professor of microbiology and an expert on highly pathogenic viruses like Ebola, Marburg, and SARS-CoV-2. She recently started investigating other viruses of concern, including Nipah\u2014a bat-borne disease with the potential to infect humans\u2014that is high on the World Health Organization\u2019s priority list for research.<\/span><\/p>\n

M\u00fchlberger is teaming up with BU colleagues, biochemist DANIEL CIFUENTES<\/b><\/a> <\/b>and\u00a0microbiologist ANTHONY GRIFFITHS<\/b><\/a>. M\u00fchlberger says, \u201cThe goal is to come up with mechanisms and strategies, to use the knowledge that we gain through this project to block these viruses, to find antiviral countermeasures.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A
BU researcher Ellen Suder preps her suit for work in the BSL-4 high containment lab at the NEIDL.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

The goal is to come up with mechanisms and strategies\u2026to block these viruses, to find antiviral countermeasures.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u2014 Elke M\u00fchlberger, Director of Integrated Science Services at NEIDL<\/p>\n

The other EMERGING PATHOGENS INITIATIVE<\/b> team featuring BU researchers includes RUSLAN AFASIZHEV<\/a>, INNA AFASIZHEVA<\/a><\/b>, and JOHN SAMUELSON<\/b><\/a>, all BU Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine molecular and cell biology faculty members. They are working with scientists from the Broad Institute, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Massachusetts General Hospital to decode key proteins\u2014known as mitochondrial proteomes\u2014in six disease-causing parasites. <\/span><\/p>\n

Afasizhev says that the work could also lay the foundation for developing a new generation of drugs targeting historically neglected diseases. \u201cWe aim to build highly accurate and comprehensive mitochondrial proteomes of parasites that cause human diseases in some of the most disadvantaged countries in the world.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HOW TO GO ANTIVIRAL The next pandemic could be lurking, ready to strike, and Boston […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12906,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":9,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"bu-landing","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/89"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12906"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/89\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":702,"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/89\/revisions\/702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}