Advertisement 1

Individual donors vital for VIDO to become Canada’s Centre for Pandemic Research

VIDO is one of our province’s most outstanding success stories. An important part of its future is now up to us.

Article content

VIDO is on a mission: to protect the world from infectious diseases and future pandemics in both humans and animals.

The important work taking place at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) is supported by the federal, provincial and municipal governments, the business and ag sectors and philanthropical foundations.

Advertisement 2
Story continues below
Article content

Article content

Perhaps even more noteworthy are the charitable donations of individual donors, large and small, says Saskatoon lawyer and consultant Doug Richardson, who is proud to be considered a “Friend of VIDO.”

“Individual donors are essential to show the widespread support to ensure that VIDO becomes Canada’s Centre for Pandemic Research—the leading national pandemic facility. It is recognition we as the people of Saskatchewan deserve and can invest in. We all have a role in this Saskatchewan success story. We can all be inspired by the pensioner who sent a $100 gift, with the note, ‘I don’t have a lot to give, but I wanted to give something to help protect my grandchildren and their future.’”

Research and vaccine development at VIDO helps to improve animal health, protect Canadian herds and ensure food safety. VIDO/USASK/DEBRA MARSHALL
Research and vaccine development at VIDO helps to improve animal health, protect Canadian herds and ensure food safety. VIDO/USASK/DEBRA MARSHALL

WHY SUPPORT VIDO?

Advancements in the study of diseases have emphasized the intricate link between animal and human health—a concept known as “one-health.” Since VIDO’s inception 47 years ago, the organization has become a world leader in this field of research.

VIDO was established to find practical applications to fight infectious diseases in Canada’s livestock industry. One of the early successes was a commercial vaccine to prevent scours, the leading cause of death in calves under one month of age. That vaccine alone, called VICOGEN, has saved the industry, and our province’s and country’s economy, many millions of dollars—and that’s just a start. For other animals, including turkeys and pigs, VIDO has commercialized seven additional vaccines that also had significant economic impacts. That, too, is just one chapter of VIDO’s remarkable success story.

Advertisement 3
Story continues below
Article content

“By understanding what is going on in animals, you can better understand what’s happening in humans. I’m a veterinarian who is working on human diseases. That is what one-health is,” explains Dr. Volker Gerdts, VIDO’s director and CEO. “VIDO was one of the first in the world to put these two together, and ‘one health’ has become our specialty—to work with animal diseases as models for human diseases, such as a pig model for whooping cough and tuberculosis, and a calf model for RSV (respiratory syncytial virus).”

The significance of VIDO was brought to the forefront during the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic. VIDO was the first in Canada to isolate the virus that causes COVID-19, in collaboration with two other organizations. It was the first in the country to establish an animal model of the disease, and the first university in Canada to conduct clinical trials for a COVID vaccine. USask, through VIDO, was the first Canadian university to be granted funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation, a leading global alliance that finances and coordinates the development of vaccines to prevent epidemics. Today, VIDO participates in three World Health Organization expert groups, and has tested more than 400 formulations from groups around the world in an effort to help end the pandemic.

Advertisement 4
Story continues below
Article content

VIDO was the first in Canada to isolate the virus that causes COVID-19, in collaboration with two other organizations, and the first in the country to establish an animal model of the disease. Photo: VIDO/USASK/DAVID STOBBE
VIDO was the first in Canada to isolate the virus that causes COVID-19, in collaboration with two other organizations, and the first in the country to establish an animal model of the disease. Photo: VIDO/USASK/DAVID STOBBE

True to its Saskatchewan roots, VIDO’s vision remains as big as the prairie skyline. In 2013, it received certification for one of the world’s largest containment level 3 facilities, making it Canada’s largest and most sophisticated facility for infectious disease research. Since then, it has added the capability to manufacture vaccines—right here in our home province. Soon, VIDO will have raised its containment status to level 4 and will add a new animal facility that will allow for even more advanced disease research. Just as importantly, VIDO is attracting top researchers from around the world to Saskatchewan, aiming to double the number of scientists at VIDO over the next 10 years. “By having these capabilities, we will be able to respond quickly to any new disease, animal or human, that emerges,” says Gerdts.

The importance of VIDO to Saskatchewan on many different levels cannot be understated. Just ask major cattle producer and current chair of VIDO’s board of directors, Ryan Thompson. “It was easy for me to want to be involved with VIDO because of all the exciting work going on,” says Thompson. “I have been aware of VIDO for many years, since my dad was involved with the board more than 25 years ago. I have used products developed at VIDO in my own beef operation as part of our annual vaccination program.”

To find out more about VIDO and how you can support the organization’s important work, visit www.vido.org. Online gifts can be made at the website’s “Friends of VIDO” page. For further donor information please contact Doug Richardson at doug.b.richardson@outlook.com.

THIS STORY WAS CREATED BY CONTENT WORKS, POSTMEDIA’S COMMERCIAL CONTENT DIVISION, ON BEHALF OF VIDO.

Article content
This Week in Flyers