Prominent Australian and Russian Research Institutions Join Global Virus Network to Combat Viral Diseases

BALTIMORE, Sept. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Virus Network (GVN), comprising foremost experts around the world in every class of virus-causing disease in humans and some animals, today announced the addition of the Center for Emerging Viruses, Inflammation and Therapeutics (EVIT) of the Menzies Health Institute Queensland at Griffith University, Australia and the Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immune and Biological Products of the Russian Academy of Sciences as its newest Centers of Excellence. The two new institutions bring GVN's total number of Centers of Excellence to 57, along with 10 affiliates in 33 countries.

"We are pleased to have these premier institutions join us from Australia and Russia at this critical time in the global pandemic," said Christian Bréchot, MD, PhD, who is President of the GVN and Professor at the University of South Florida.  "EVIT will strengthen our depth and collaborative network in arbovirology, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, Southeast Asia, India, South America and South Africa. The Chumakov Center has unique expertise in varying areas of virology with many global connections, making it Russia's leading research organization in the field of virology."

EVIT, as part of the Menzies Health Institute Queensland, provides a critical mass of scientists and clinicians with distinct areas of expertise in emerging arbovirus diseases. The Center has excellent knowledge of viral pathogenesis and related inflammatory diseases and strong capabilities in developing treatments for emerging viruses such as chikungunya (CHIKV), Ross River (RRV), dengue, Zika (ZIKV), Japanese encephalitis (JEV) and West Nile (WNV) viruses.  Additionally, EVIT focuses on emerging viruses such as Hendra and SARS-CoV-2, and established viruses such as influenza virus and respiratory syncytial virus. The Center has a strong emphasis on both basic and translational research, which has led to several major breakthroughs in understanding how viruses cause disease. The GVN Center is led by Suresh Mahalingam, PhD, FASM, FAAM, Professor and Director, Emerging Viruses, Inflammation and Therapeutics Group, Principal Research Leader and NHMRC Senior Research Fellow at EVIT.

"GVN has the ability to contribute to the activities of major players in world health such as CEPI and GAVI, which will open up additional opportunities for our research center to establish new collaborations," said Dr. Mahalingam. "Further, through our GVN membership, we look forward to enhancing our leadership of arbovirus research and disease preparedness in the Asia-Pacific region; establishing new collaborations with fellow GVN members; facilitating advanced training of students and researchers from the Asia-Pacific region; and, enhancing technology and knowledge transfer within the GVN."

The Chumakov Center conducts a broad range of studies of different human and animal viruses and manufactures polio, rabies and tick-borne encephalitis vaccines, supplying up to 70% of national demand in these products. Yellow fever vaccines produced at the Chumakov Center cover more than a half of UNICEF's Eliminating Yellow Fever Epidemics (EYE) Strategy, supporting immunization in more than 50 countries.  The Chumakov Center contains the World Health Organization's (WHO) regional reference laboratory for polio preforming epidemiological surveillance of acute flaccid paralysis and polio as a part of Global Polio Laboratory Network for Global Polio Eradication Initiative. The Center also acts as a WHO Collaborative Center for Poliomyelitis and Enterovirus Surveillance and Research. The Center is led by Aydar Ishmukhametov, MD, DSc, Director General of the Chumakov Center and a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

"Our expertise in research, preclinical and clinical development and manufacturing of antiviral vaccines will be useful for GVN members," said Dr. Ishmukhametov.  "We look forward to collaborating with the world's leading virology experts and for participation of our younger scientists in virology training programs through the GVN."

About the Global Virus Network (GVN)
The Global Virus Network (GVN) is essential and critical in the preparedness, defense and first research response to emerging, exiting and unidentified viruses that pose a clear and present threat to public health, working in close coordination with established national and international institutions. It is a coalition comprised of eminent human and animal virologists from 57 Centers of Excellence and 10 Affiliates in 33 countries worldwide, working collaboratively to train the next generation, advance knowledge about how to identify and diagnose pandemic viruses, mitigate and control how such viruses spread and make us sick, as well as develop drugs, vaccines and treatments to combat them. No single institution in the world has expertise in all viral areas other than the GVN, which brings together the finest medical virologists to leverage their individual expertise and coalesce global teams of specialists on the scientific challenges, issues and problems posed by pandemic viruses. The GVN is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. For more information, please visit www.gvn.org. Follow us on Twitter @GlobalVirusNews.

SOURCE Global Virus Network

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