New Project to Coordinate Veterinary Immunology Research

April 26, 2006 — 

The USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has announced the formation of the U.S. Veterinary Immunology Reagent Network. This project will involve scientists from around the country and the world to coordinate the efforts of veterinary immunology research with the ultimate objective of accelerating the characterization and treatment of a range of animal diseases.

The initiative, funded by USDA with a $2.15 million grant, will consist of a core of 8 research groups involving more than 40 researchers in USDA, university, institutional and industry labs. Research will focus on cattle, poultry, horses, swine and fish. Dr. Joan Lunney (email: jlunney@anri.barc.usda.gov), an immunogeneticist at USDA's Beltsville Agricultural Research Center ( BARC), will coordinate the network's research on swine.

The initiative's goal is to develop biological tools, or reagents, that will detect and measure animals' disease responses. These reagents will be used to help diagnose a wide variety of illnesses, improve vaccines, and in some cases function as biotherapeutics to produce changes or serve as prophylactic treatments. Many of the reagents developed will be stored in cell banks in the United States and Europe and transferred to commercial vendors for marketing so they'll be accessible to as many researchers as possible. A portion of all reagents will be distributed free of charge to key researchers for each species.

Source:
USDA, ARS Healthy Animals Newsletter