Source: The National Research Fund for Tick-Borne Diseases, Inc.
Innovative Research Will Improve Understanding of Lyme and Other Tick-Borne Diseases
WILTON, Conn., Jan. 2, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE)
"The National Research Fund for Tick-Borne Diseases, Inc. (NRFTD), the nation's only non-profit organization dedicated primarily to funding scientific research in the rapidly expanding field of tick-borne diseases, today announced the awarding of four research grants totaling $240,000 under its 2006 Pilot Project Grant Program.
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Dr. Wayne Hynes of Old Dominion University has been awarded a grant to study the role of defensins in the innate immune response of ticks...
Also studying Lyme disease will be Dr. Brian Stevenson of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, who will investigate how antigenic variation in Borrelia burgdorferi's surface membranes enables persistent infection in animal hosts...
Another important, potentially fatal tick-transmitted disease is human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA), caused by a bacterium called Anaplasma phagocytophilum. This organism will be studied by Dr. Jason Carlyon, also of the University of Kentucky. After being transmitted to animals, A. phagocytophilum invades certain white blood cells called neutrophils... Identifying the specific adhesins and receptors involved in this process will provide scientists with new targets for HGA therapies and vaccines.
The final grant recipient is Dr. Patricia Holman from Texas A&M University's College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, who will study Babesia microti, yet another important tick-transmitted pathogen...
Dr. Holman will develop methods to culture the B. microti parasite and investigate the interaction between one of its surface antigens, called "apical membrane 1" (AMA-1) and human red blood cells. This work will aid in designing drug therapies and vaccines by providing a target for interrupting the invasion process."
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shazdancer
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
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Thanks for the info, ldfighter. Nice work on the links to the scientists, as well!
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