U.S.-based Howard Hughes Medical Institute funds virus research at Robarts

LONDON, ON (July 7, 2005) -- A leading Robarts scientist and poxvirus expert is one of a select group of investigators from 20 countries named yesterday as “international research scholars” by the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute. HHMI’s infectious diseases program has awarded Dr. Grant McFadden, Co-Director of the BioTherapeutics Research Group at Robarts, $350,000 US over five years to further his research teasing apart the molecular mechanisms by which viruses can disarm host immune systems and cross species barriers. (Recent outbreaks of avian flu are an example of a virus crossing the species barrier, in those cases infecting not only birds but humans.) “It is an honour to be invited to join the Howard Hughes International Scholarship Program,” said Dr. McFadden, who is also Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at The University of Western Ontario. “The Howard Hughes scientists are world class and I am looking forward to starting some new collaborations with some of them.” Dr. McFadden will use this award to investigate the cellular components of two anti-viral pathways that his research team uncovered during earlier studies of poxvirus infection in mammalian cells. He hopes the studies will better define the molecular mechanisms that control the host-virus species barrier and provide insights into host pathways that viruses must circumvent when invading a new host species. Based in Chevy Chase, Md., HHMI selected 42 scientists, including four other Canadians (in Edmonton, Toronto and two in Vancouver), from nearly 500 applicants for this award. Other successful researchers were from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Denmark, France, Germany Hungary, India, Israel, Mali, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand and Uruguay. Their research projects involve fundamental questions related to a range of infectious illnesses from tuberculosis and anthrax to dengue fever and flesh-eating disease. “This award from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute is a significant and prestigious achievement for Dr. McFadden and for Robarts,” said Dr. Mark Poznansky, Robarts President & Scientific Director. “It recognizes Dr. McFadden’s status as a global leader in a field of virology, which is of paramount importance to the health of millions of people worldwide.” Since HHMI awarded its first infectious diseases and parasitology grants in 2000, more than 50 transnational collaborations have sprung from annual science meetings where the international research scholars gather to present their research and learn from their colleagues around the world. -30- For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Linda Quattrin at (519) 663-3021 or lquattrin@robarts.ca