on October 24, 2016
ZIKAlliance, a multinational and multi-disciplinary research consortium coordinated by the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), was today awarded €11,9M by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, to conduct a 36-month cutting-edge research project during the ongoing outbreak of Zika virus infection (ZIKV) in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB, Università della Svizzera italiana) is among the 52 grantees, located in 18 different countries and spread over 4 continents, of the both basic and social sciences consortium coordinated by leading virologist Prof. Xavier de Lamballerie (Inserm, IRD, Aix-Marseille).
Federica Sallusto, director of the Center of Medical Immunology at the IRB, and Antonio Lanzavecchia, director of the IRB, will collaborate on this project by identifying the biomarkers associated with this infection and its complications, studying both the impact of prior immunity and the potential autoimmune markers.
In an effort to combat what is a global threat that has affected 73 countries and territories worldwide (WHO Zika Situation Report, 13 October 2016), the ZIKAlliance project will address three key objectives:
– further explore the impact of ZIKV during pregnancy, and the short and medium term effects that it has on newborn babies.
– explore the natural history of ZIKV in humans and their environment in the context of other circulating arboviruses affecting the same populations, such as Dengue fever and Chikungunya. Partners performing basic science such as the IRB, will seek to characterise the virus, the mechanisms of the disease, and identify drugs that can control the viral infection. Meanwhile, social science partners will explore the cost and social impact of the disease, as well as the characterisation of beliefs and behaviours within the affected Brazilian population.
– build the overall capacity and preparedness for research ahead of future epidemic threats in the affected areas, through the development of a preparedness platform. This objective is conducted in collaboration with two other European Commission funded consortia: ZikaPlan and ZikAction.
ZIKAlliance is a 3-year project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research Innovation Programme under the Grant Agreement no. 734548. A link to the press release published by the European Commission in relation to the three projects is available here.
