Atlantic Archipelagos Research Consortium
Digital Humanities at The University of Georgia
Several University of Georgia researchers teamed up to create a statistical method that may allow public health and infectious disease forecasters to better predict disease reemergence, especially for preventable childhood infections such as measles and pertussis.
CCHF is acquired through bites from infected ticks and animals
Research identifies viruses with potential to spread among humans
Colley has spent nearly 50 years investigating schistosomiasis, a debilitating parasitic worm infection
Research identifies the “cue” that Enterotoxigenic E. coli uses to determine when to make toxins that cause disease
Understanding how bacteria can alter their outer surface has implications for combating antibiotic resistance
Susan Sanchez, professor of infectious diseases, assistant director of the UGA Biomedical Health Sciences Institute and chair of One Health, was recently appointed to the National Institute of Health’s Council of Councils. She will serve a five-year term, beginning October 1, 2018, with her first meeting in January.
“Susan will be a great addition to this prestigious group,” said Lisa K. Nolan, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. “She sees the big picture in a way that not everyone does, is an excellent strategist and can come up with creative solutions to any issue. She will be an asset to the group without a doubt.”
The 27-member Council of Councils advises the NIH Director on matters related to the policies and activities of the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI). The Council also acts as an external advisory panel for the NIH Institutes and Center Directors during their “concept approval” stage of the NIH Roadmap Initiative review process. Roadmap Initiatives foster high-risk/high-reward research, enable the development of transformative tools and methodologies, fill fundamental knowledge gaps, and/or change academic culture to foster collaboration. These initiatives are designed to pursue major opportunities and gaps in biomedical research that no single NIH institute could tackle alone, but which the agency as a whole can address to make the biggest impact possible on the progress of biomedical research.
“This is a great opportunity for UGA and the College of Veterinary Medicine to not only get insight on the future direction of NIH, but to help guide it,” noted Sanchez. “I couldn’t be more honored to join such a diverse and accomplished group of professionals on the Council and have the opportunity to help shape trans-institute research.”
Sanchez is well-known for her work in antimicrobial resistance and One Health. In addition to her NIH funded research and training grants, Sanchez has served in several NIH study sections, consults on research training for veterinary students, and played a crucial role in developing the new strategic plan for the Office of Research and Infrastructure Programs. She joins a distinguished group as part of the Council. Membership includes professionals at the top of the research, academic, and corporate entities involved in public health and medicine.
Zika and related diseases are spreading, opening up the threat to more of the world’s population.
Model analyzes statistical patterns in public health reports to identify the point at which a disease outbreak is possible
UGA research is the first to examine accuracy of the primary diagnostic tool for latent TB
UGA researcher shares his thoughts on the future of flu prevention
Researchers also explored the effect of previous exposure to influenza
Researchers used software to study a parasitic wasp along with a virus that inhibits the immune system.
Dennis E. Kyle is the new director of the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases and the Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Antiparasitic Drug Discovery. He discusses research into malaria and other diseases.
What do we mean by “tropical and emerging diseases”?
These are human and animal diseases mostly caused by eukaryotic parasites—either single-cell or multi-cellular worms. Most of these occur in the tropics. These diseases have been around for a long time, but they’ve not received the sort of attention that cancer and diabetes and Alzheimer’s have and so have been comparatively neglected. People have not had funds to work on new drugs or diagnostics or vaccines. We are probably the largest center in the U.S. that’s working in this area. All 25 of the investigators that lead groups in our center are focused on parasites that cause human and animal diseases.
If these diseases have been around a long time, why are they called “emerging”?
They are re-emerging due to global warming. Diseases that had been found mainly in the tropics are appearing more and more in temperate climate zones. Malaria was once endemic in the U.S. all the way up the East Coast. We got rid of it, but there are chances that this deadly disease could come back. The mosquito vectors are still here. Some of these diseases continue to emerge as new pathogens. Take, for example, the so-called brain-eating amoeba (Naegleria fowleri) that I work on. They’re found in warm water. We are seeing more people getting infected, and it’s 98 percent fatal.
Are we making progress in prevention or treatment?
We’re making advances in three areas at the center. Our center is leading efforts internationally to develop new ways to understand the biology of these parasites, from basic molecular biology to developing this knowledge into applied tools. That’s key in trying to decide how you attack it with a drug or a vaccine.
Another area is drug development, which is one of my specialties. Until recently, there was no way to test for the drugs that killed malaria parasites in the liver. The mosquito bites and injects the parasites into the body. Some of those parasites can remain dormant in the liver for months or years and then wake up and cause disease again. Now we have a new model to study these parasites, and we’re applying that to discover new drugs.
The third area is the vectors that transmit disease. Multiple partners at the center are trying to understand how the vectors can be manipulated—knowledge that can be used to reduce infection.
Why is malaria, the world’s leading deadly parasitic infection, so hard to defeat?
The parasite has the ability to change quite frequently, so it evolves to evade drugs developed to kill it. If you start using a new drug to treat this infection, the parasite can become resistant frighteningly fast—usually within a couple of years. It’s very difficult to overcome this resistance unless you have multiple new drugs that you can use together for treatment. We’ve made great progress in the past decade. Global deaths from malaria have fallen from about 2 million per year to around 500,000. But it’s going to take a lot of funds and effort and innovation to get rid of the last malaria parasite.
Does it concern you that the brain-eating amoeba creates bigger headlines than malaria, which affects millions more?
Not really. People have heard of malaria, and they probably can tell you that you get it from a mosquito bite. When people hear “brain-eating amoeba,” they probably have no idea how you get infected. The good news is that simple measures—don’t put your head under water or splash water up your nose, but do use a nose plug while you’re swimming in warm lakes—could protect people from this fatal infection. The disease is 99 percent preventable. Awareness is really important.
What do our changing world, increased globalization and climate change mean for the future of these diseases?
The tropics can come to you. These tropical diseases are a lot more intertwined with our daily lives than we really understand. We have to be aware of them. We’re working on diseases that mostly affect the poor in underdeveloped countries around the world but do have potential impact here in the U.S., especially in the Southeast, where many of these parasites already are lurking.
Animals and humans are linked together in the fight against antibiotic resistance.
From clinics in Puerto Rico to laboratories at UGA, researchers are fighting this emerging disease on many fronts.
Recognizing faculty from SEC member universities with outstanding records in research and scholarship
Although this parasite was believed to cause severe problems and even death in people who become infected, a new University of Georgia study shows that’s not always the case.
The more urbanized a place is, the more white ibises there are carrying salmonella—the same kind that can make people sick, a new University of Georgia study has found.
A team of scientists led by researchers at the University of Georgia has developed a new mouse model that closely mimics fetal brain abnormalities caused by the Zika virus in humans.
Findings could lay the groundwork for a disease forecasting system that could give public health officials time to prepare for-or possibly even prevent-certain outbreaks in the future.
Researchers at UGA and Sanofi Pasteur recently announced the development of a vaccine that protects against multiple strains of both seasonal and pandemic H1N1 influenza in mouse models.
The CDC announced today that it will award more than $14 million to 34 research teams across the nation to develop new approaches to combat antibiotic resistance.
Rabies is likely to appear on the Pacific coast of Peru—an area where it currently does not occur—within four years, according to a report by an international team of researchers just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Using an animal model for the disease, the researchers administered the drug orally to and cured sleeping sickness in mice.
One of the nation’s leading infectious disease researchers will join the University of Georgia faculty this fall as its newest Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar.
