Funding has been awarded to four highly meritorious proposals, submitted in response to the COBRE Small Grants Program funding opportunity announcement (FOA).

Mukesh Kumar, Ph.D.
In utero Pathogenesis of African and Asian Zika Virus Strains in Guinea Pig

Axel T. Lehrer, Ph.D.
Innate …

Animal models are critical to understand the transmission and pathogenesis of infectious diseases and to develop countermeasures for their prevention and spread. Here, we report that immunocompetent Dunkin Hartley guinea pigs are susceptible to infection by a contemporary American strain of Zika vir…

The purpose of the Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) Small Grants Program is to provide support via three funding mechanisms to University of Hawaii (UH) faculty engaged in research in tropical medicine, medical microbiology, immunology, and/or emerging infectious diseases. However, …

Ebola virus (EBOV), a member of the Filoviridae family, causes the most severe form of viral hemorrhagic fever. Although no FDA licensed vaccine or treatment against Ebola virus disease (EVD) is currently available, Ebola virus glycoprotein (GP) is the major antigen used in all candidate Ebola vacci…

Infections with filoviruses in humans are highly virulent, causing hemorrhagic fevers which result in up to 90% mortality. In addition to natural infections, the ability to use these viruses as bioterrorist weapons is of significant concern. Currently, there are no licensed vaccines or therapeutics …

Schlafen (SLFN) proteins have been suggested to play important functions in cell proliferation and immune cell development. In this study, we determined the antiviral activities of putative RNA-helicase domain-containing SLFN14. Murine SLFN14 expression was specifically induced by TLR3-mediated path…