The University of Minnesota Medical School has landed a $10 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to study how animals' immune systems recognize and fight off viruses — work that could point to new ways to treat or prevent viral disease in people.
The five-year project is led by Ryan Langlois, a professor at the Medical School, working with the U's College of Veterinary Medicine, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Como Zoo Conservatory and the San Diego Zoo. Researchers will collect living cells from more than 100 animal species to compare how their innate immune systems respond to viral infections, with a particular focus on arboviruses like West Nile virus and how viruses jump from animals to humans.
"This new grant will allow us to utilize this 'cellular zoo' to determine how diverse animals recognize and fight virus infections," Langlois said, per the university.
Michael Gale Jr., chair of the Medical School's Department of Microbiology and Immunology, said the payoff could extend well beyond animal health. "By studying these natural defenses across species, we hope to identify new ways to prevent and treat viral diseases," he said.
The grant, and the university's roughly 100-species cell collection, was also covered by Fox 9, which confirmed the funding source and scope of the research.