In the news
INVADE
INVADE Team Selected as Inaugural I-DID Pilot Program Awardee
INVADE (Investigating Neurotropic Virus-Induced Alzheimer’s Disease Etiology) is a collaborative effort focused on how neurotropic viral infections may contribute to Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. We use acute and persistent viral infection models to ask when, where, and how viruses tip neural circuits and glial networks toward chronic injury and degeneration. By connecting virology, brain immunology, and neurodegeneration, INVADE aims to identify mechanisms by which infections accelerate or unmask Alzheimer-like pathology and to uncover targets for prevention and intervention in vulnerable populations.
UNVEIL
Global UNVEIL Initiative Launches to Fast Track Lassa fever Vaccine Development.
UNVEIL (Unraveling Natural- and Vaccine-Elicited Immunity against Lassa Virus) is a multi-site effort to better understand how the immune system responds to Lassa virus infection and vaccination in humans and relevant animal models. The goal is to identify practical immune readouts that can guide Lassa vaccine development and evaluation.
Working with partners in West Africa and international collaborators, the project brings together:
Clinical cohorts in endemic regions to characterize immune responses after natural infection and vaccination
Nonhuman primate and small animal models to define correlates of protection under controlled conditions
Integrated immune profiling – including antibody function, T-cell responses, and systems-level analyses – to link immune patterns with clinical outcomes
By comparing immunity induced by natural infection and by candidate vaccines, UNVEIL aims to define measurable markers of protection that can support future Lassa vaccine trials and help prioritize the most promising candidates.
TEAM SCIENCE
Nigeria Joins $6.4m Global Lassa Fever Vaccine Research.
Nigeria has joined a new $6.4 million international research consortium aimed at accelerating the development of a vaccine against Lassa fever.
This was made known in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) on Sunday in Abuja.
The initiative, tagged Unravelling Natural and Vaccine-Elicited Immunity to Lassa fever (UNVEIL), is led by the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), with funding support from CEPI.
NAN reports that three Nigerian institutions, Jos University Teaching Hospital, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital, Bauchi, will serve as frontline clinical sites under the project.
They will work alongside the Kenema Government Hospital in Sierra Leone.
The research will focus on identifying immune markers or correlates of protection, biological signatures in blood or cells that indicate immunity to Lassa fever.
