« Förderinformationen
Priority Programme - Ecology and Species Barriers in Emerging Viral Diseases (SPP 1596)
Termin:
16.06.2015
Fördergeber:
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
Emerging viruses existing in animal reservoirs may cause epidemic or epizootic diseases if transmitted to humans or livestock. While we understand the pathogenicity and epidemiology of prototypic emerging viral diseases, we know little about mechanisms driving virus emergence from animal reservoirs. To move ahead, we need to generalise our view on emerging viruses, taking into consideration the ecology of viruses in their natural reservoirs. We hypothesise that small mammals, mainly bats and rodents, constitute most relevant virus reservoirs due to their large group sizes, population density, mixing and turnover, as well as their exposure to arthropod vectors. The programme will be focussing on mammalian and insect hosts.
Beyond the OneHealth concept centered around medicine (veterinary/human), we seek to improve the collaboration between groups in basic virology as well as basic zoology/ecology on mechanisms behind pathogen emergence. We aim to address ecological as well as the molecular correlates of species barriers, which we define for the purpose of this programme as the sum of conditions that prevent host switching.
The Priority Programme invites applications for collaborative projects on the correlations between host population traits and factors that affect abundance, maintenance, and virulence of reservoir-borne viruses. Approaches can include experimental and field-based studies of infection and infection patterns. Data from the first working period should be used to extrapolate and generalise from field observations. Projects that address the molecular determinants of species barrier functions should aim at revealing correlations and mechanisms behind host switching, with a view on generalisation and prediction of drivers of virus emergence across virus taxa.
Contact:
Professor Dr. Christian Drosten,
Institute of Virology,
University of Bonn Medical Centre,
Sigmund-Freud-Straße 25,
53105 Bonn,
phone: +49 228 287-11055,
drosten@virology-bonn.de
Further Information:
http://www.dfg.de/foerderung/info_wissenschaft/info_wissenschaft_15_23/index.html
Beyond the OneHealth concept centered around medicine (veterinary/human), we seek to improve the collaboration between groups in basic virology as well as basic zoology/ecology on mechanisms behind pathogen emergence. We aim to address ecological as well as the molecular correlates of species barriers, which we define for the purpose of this programme as the sum of conditions that prevent host switching.
The Priority Programme invites applications for collaborative projects on the correlations between host population traits and factors that affect abundance, maintenance, and virulence of reservoir-borne viruses. Approaches can include experimental and field-based studies of infection and infection patterns. Data from the first working period should be used to extrapolate and generalise from field observations. Projects that address the molecular determinants of species barrier functions should aim at revealing correlations and mechanisms behind host switching, with a view on generalisation and prediction of drivers of virus emergence across virus taxa.
Contact:
Professor Dr. Christian Drosten,
Institute of Virology,
University of Bonn Medical Centre,
Sigmund-Freud-Straße 25,
53105 Bonn,
phone: +49 228 287-11055,
drosten@virology-bonn.de
Further Information:
http://www.dfg.de/foerderung/info_wissenschaft/info_wissenschaft_15_23/index.html