NIH grant takes aim at costly cattle disease worldwide.
A Washington State University researcher recently received a five year, $1.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue research that will have a major impact on the prevention of infectious diseases of animals worldwide.
Wendy C. Brown, a professor and veterinary immunologist in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology, and her colleagues at WSU study a microorganism that is known to be among the most costly causes of cattle disease worldwide. The specific bacterium under study, Anaplasma marginale, is carried by ticks. Australian authorities place the cost of anaplasmosis worldwide at more than $500 million annually.
Team seeks to develop stable vaccine
The disease-causing organism is a rickettsia, a type of bacteria that must invade, grow, and reproduce inside normal cells in order to produce disease. The cycle is similar to the requirements needed by viruses to cause disease.
Up until now, it has been difficult to develop a cost-effective, stable vaccine for Anaplasma. Dr. Brown’s team hopes to find one or more proteins belonging to rickettsia that can be exploited to produce a high-quality vaccine that protects the immune system of cattle.
World-acclaimed researcher
“Dr. Brown’s acquisition of a major grant from NIH in today’s funding climate documents the international regard for her world-class leadership in animal infectious disease research,” said David Prieur, professor and chair of the WSU Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology.
In 2004, Dr. Brown was awarded the Distinguished Veterinary Immunologist Award by the Veterinary Immunology Committee of the International Union of Immunological Societies. The prestigious award is granted every three years and is considered to recognize the best veterinary immunologist in the world during that period.
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