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The initial research response to the COVID-19 pandemic enabled the rapid identification of the human cellular receptor for SARS-CoV-2 (angiotensin converting enzyme 2, known as ACE-2) and the characterization of the structure of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, which sits on the surface of the virus and facilitates entry to human cells. NIAID-supported research helped quickly identify targets for potential treatments and vaccines, leading to numerous effective countermeasures.
NIAID experts and collaborators rapidly initiated scientifically rigorous clinical trials to evaluate the most promising candidate therapeutics for COVID-19. NIAID scientists and NIAID-supported researchers continue to conduct basic, translational and clinical research aimed at identifying effective therapeutics for early COVID-19 infection and for hospitalized patients with more advanced disease.
The NIAID Strategic Plan for COVID-19 Research details the institute’s priorities for controlling and ultimately ending the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and the disease it causes (COVID-19). The plan focuses on four key research areas to accomplish this:
Research evidence suggests that SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV originated in bats. SARS-CoV then spread from infected civets to people, while MERS-CoV spreads from infected dromedary camels to people. To date, the origin of SARS-CoV-2 which caused the COVID-19 pandemic has not been identified.
The goal of the Feasibility of Novel Diagnostics for TB in Endemic Countries (FEND for TB) program is to support the evaluation of early-stage diagnostics and novel diagnostic strategies for TB to address an urgent need for improved diagnostics. TB is one of the leading infectious disease causes of mortality in the world. About 1.7 billion people are currently infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and are at risk of developing active TB disease. There are 10 million new TB cases and 1.5 million TB deaths annually. Increasing rates of multi-drug and extensively drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB and XDR-TB) pose a growing threat. Early diagnosis of TB and universal drug-susceptibility testing are critical to identifying the most appropriate treatment for individual patients and to preventing the spread of disease.
Despite major advances in recent years, critical diagnostic needs are still needed for TB. There is an urgent need for true point of care (POC) diagnostics, including rapid drug susceptibility testing (DST), pediatric targeted diagnostics, assays that do not rely on sputum and technologies to improve diagnosis of disseminated and paucibacillary TB.
In 2020, NIAID made 3 awards to establish centers under the Feasibility of Novel Diagnostics for TB in Endemic Countries (FEND for TB) solicitation (RFA-AI-19-030). These three centers will provide clinical site capacity to evaluate TB diagnostics in 12 TB-endemic countries and will evaluate 36 different assays and biomarkers, including diagnostics for triage testing, rapid point of care diagnosis and drug susceptibility testing. The centers have options for diagnostic technology holders to submit requests to have their early-stage TB diagnostic tests evaluated.
The centers will conduct proof-of principle studies and provide feedback to diagnostic developers on the performance of their technologies and potential strategies for use in endemic settings. These diagnostic technologies will be suitable for use in a variety of different settings and will include testing for different patient populations, such as pediatric groups and people living with HIV.
Contact PI: Adithya Cattamanchi
Award number: U01AI152087
www.r2d2tbnetwork.org
Contact PI: Jerrold Ellner,
Award number: U01AI152084
https://www.fend-tb.org/
Contact PI: Gerhard Walzl
Award number: U01AI152075
www.endxtb.com
Karen Lacourciere, Ph.D., Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
Fatima Jones, Ph.D., Division of AIDS