The University of Nebraska Board of Regents today approved establishment
of the Nebraska Center for Virology (NCV) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The NCV, established with a $10.7 million competitive grant to UNL from
the National Institutes of Health, links virology researchers at UNL, the
University of Nebraska Medical Center and Creighton University.
The Nebraska Center for Virology brings together our world-class virology
researchers and is an example of how collaboration among universities can
lead to great accomplishment, said Prem Paul, Ph.D., UNL Vice Chancellor
for Research. We are very excited about the potential of the center for
improving human health and the treatment of viral diseases.
NCV researchers conduct basic research on the ways viruses and other
infectious agents cause disease, and use this knowledge to develop new
ways to treat and prevent the spread of disease. They study some of the
most devastating human and animal diseases, including AIDS, HIV-associated
cancers, and chronic infections caused by herpes viruses and prions, the
organism that causes mad cow disease. The centers studies of how viruses
replicate and cause infection and cell death also will lead to a better
understanding of human neuroimmune disorders, such as Alzheimers disease,
and have broad implications for other research areas.
The Center is directed by Charles Wood, Ph.D., a prominent molecular
virologist whose work on the transmission of HIV and related diseases in
Africa is at the forefront of international virology research. Dr. Woods
collaborative research programs involve scientists at UNL, UNMC, Harvard
University, the University of Miami, the University of Zambia and the Zambian
Ministry of Health.
We are pleased that the Board of Regents has recognized the Nebraska
Center for Virology and the importance of our research on viral diseases,
Wood said. The Center is a team effort and we have a strong commitment
to building a nationally prominent biomedical research program in Nebraska..
Together we can make great progress in research related to human health.
Co-directors of the NCV are Howard Gendelman, M.D., UNMC David Purtilo
Distinguished Professor and director of UNMCs Center for Neurovirology
and Neurodegenerative Disorders, and James VanEtten, William Allington
Distinguished Professor of virology at UNL.
The Nebraska Center for Virology is a major advance in developing collaborative
research programs between UNL and UNMC, said Thomas Rosenquist, Ph.D.,
UNMC Interim Vice Chancellor for Research.
The NCV is funded largely by external grants. Its initial $10.7 million
NIH award supports four major research projects and key technical facilities
needed by the centers researchers, recruitment of new scientists and students,
and its administrative offices at UNL. The grant also funded initial salary
and start-up costs for five new researchers, four at UNL and one at UNMC
a critical component in building the center.
These new researchers will create the critical mass of expertise that
is needed to take the center, and Nebraska, to the forefront of virology
research, Wood said.