From Staff Reports
Three University of Texas Medical Branch faculty members are speaking in Washington D.C. today at a day-long workshop on the Zika virus organized by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
Professor Scott Weaver, director of the medical branch’s Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, and associate professor Nikos Vasilakis are recognized internationally as experts in diseases that are carried by mosquitoes, including Zika, according to a news release by the medical branch. Dr. George Saade will be joining Weaker and Vasilakis in Washington, and is known around the world for his maternal and fetal medicine research, as well as his clinical expertise in that area.
“We’re proud to be included in a national forum to help our nation understand this virus, what research is being done and what is needed to protect people,” said Dr. David L. Callender, president of the medical branch.
In late January the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention activated its Emergency Operations Center to respond to outbreaks of Zika occurring in the Americas and increased reports of birth defects in areas affected by the mosquito-borne virus. According to the CDC, no local mosquito-borne Zika virus cases have been reported in the United States, but there have been travel-associated cases.
The workshop in Washington will work to “identify the research priorities associated with this virus that will inform public health and medical practice,” according to the academies.
The medical branch has been spotlighting the virus on their website since early January, and along with this most recent workshop, the medical branch has teamed up with the Brazilian Ministry of Health to research and develop a Zika virus vaccine.
A delegation including Brazilian scientists and health officials spent a week in Galveston before sending a letter of intent on the collaboration, according to a news release by the medical branch.
While the main focus of the partnership will be to develop a vaccine, the partners also will work toward developing diagnostic tools and antiviral therapies.