CIHR invests more than $2.6 million in VIDO for research on emerging viruses and vaccine development

Developing vaccines more quickly and understanding how viruses spread before they become larger public health threats are two important parts of preparing for future infectious disease outbreaks.

With support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), researchers at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) are advancing both. Two VIDO-led projects have received a combined $2,695,245 through the CIHR Project Grant competition to accelerate vaccine development for high-consequence viruses and to improve understanding of how viruses move between wildlife and people.

Funded projects:

Studies into improved broadly reactive and protective vaccination strategies for high consequence bunyaviruses – Dr. Bryce Warner

Some of the world's most concerning viruses still have no vaccines. Among them are several bunyaviruses, including hantaviruses, that can cause severe disease in people, while others threaten livestock health and agricultural production.

Building on previous research, this project will compare promising vaccine platforms for hantaviruses, use computational tools to design improved vaccine antigens for multiple high-consequence viruses, and evaluate the most promising candidates for effectiveness using animal models in VIDO’s high containment facility. Together, this work will create a more efficient and adaptable approach to developing vaccines against multiple virus families by establishing which approaches work best against each family. It also aims to design and test antigens that can induce immune responses against multiple viruses within a virus family, like hantaviruses.

"Rather than developing a vaccine for just one virus, we're building and testing approaches that can be applied across multiple related viruses. That gives us a stronger foundation for responding to emerging infectious disease threats," said Warner.

By improving how vaccines are designed and evaluated, the project will help accelerate the development of vaccines for emerging and re-emerging viruses.

Co-investigators on this project are Dr. Zahed Khatooni (VIDO), Dr. Leonardo Susta (University of Guelph), Dr. Aneesh Thakur (VIDO) and Dr. Sarah Wootton (University of Guelph). The project grant is $1,170,450 over five years.

An interdisciplinary and collaborative One Health approach to investigate coronavirus infection, persistence, shedding, and antiviral immunity using wild-caught and captive bat models in the Americas – Dr. Arinjay Banerjee

Preventing outbreaks also depends on understanding how viruses are maintained in wildlife.

Some bat species naturally carry multiple viruses that can cause serious disease in humans and livestock while often remaining healthy themselves. Using a One Health approach that recognizes the connections between human, animal and environmental health, this interdisciplinary project will investigate how viruses infect, persist and are shed by big brown bats in both laboratory and field settings. Researchers will examine the immune responses that allow bats to tolerate infection and identify factors that influence when viruses are more likely to be shed into the environment. By combining laboratory studies with samples collected from wild bat populations across North and Central America, the team hopes to better understand the conditions that contribute to virus transmission.

"Bats have evolved remarkable ways to coexist with viruses that can cause severe disease in people," said Banerjee. "By understanding the immune mechanisms that allow them to tolerate persistent infection, we can better identify the conditions that lead virus spillover and ultimately help prevent future outbreaks. This is the strength of a One Health approach, bringing together expertise in wildlife, human health, ecology and laboratory science to answer questions that no single discipline can solve."

The findings will improve understanding of how zoonotic viruses emerge and help inform public health and wildlife management strategies aimed at reducing the risk of future outbreaks. The research approach may also be applied to other wildlife species, such as rodents, that serve as reservoirs for high-consequence pathogens.

Co-investigators on this project are Dr. Daniel Becker (University of Oklahoma), Dr. Andrew Doxey (University of Waterloo), Dr. Paul Faure (McMaster University), and postdoctoral trainees from Dr. Banerjee’s laboratory, Dr. Kristof Jenik (VIDO) and Dr. Hannah Mahoney (VIDO). The project grant is $1,524,795 over five years.

Learn more about other CIHR-funded projects at USask