The Song lab will use the fund to study the cellular targets of Zika Virus (ZIKV) in the adult brain using a mouse model of ZIKV pathogenesis.
Juan Song, PhD, assistant professor of pharmacology and member of the neurosciences center, and her collaborator, Helen Lazear, PhD, assistant professor of microbiology and immunology, have been awarded a UNC Emerging Challenges in Biomedical Research (ECBR) pilot project grant to study the effects of Zika virus on the brain.
Song and Lazear’s project, “Targets of Zika Virus in the Adult Brain,” will investigate Zika’s potential associated health effects on the neuronal stem cells in the adult brain, which are currently unknown. This inquiry, which involves a powerful mouse model of Zika virus infection and sophisticated neuronal assays, has the potential to uncover long-term neurological effects on learning and memory in addition to the recently established roles for Zika in microcephaly in infants and Guillain-Barré syndrome in adults.
About Emerging Challenges in Biomedical Research Pilot Project Grants
The School of Medicine’s Office of Research created a new pilot project mechanism – Emerging Challenges in Biomedical Research (ECBR) to provide support for innovative, early stage research relevant to NIH priorities. The supported research is expected to lead to submission of novel interdisciplinary program project grants and multiple PI R01s by UNC SOM investigators. Preference is given to new projects and ideas from individual investigators and cross-cutting teams with the highest impact research across the spectrum of basic and clinical research. The funds are not meant as a supplement or bridge to an existing project.
The purpose of the current challenge (Spring 2016) is to capture the broad interdisciplinary expertise of SOM faculty relevant to emergent insect-borne diseases. Two other ECBR grants were awarded in addition to Song’s grant.
Read more about all ECBR grants awarded in 2016 for Zika research