Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

Johns Hopkins researchers identify protein that regulates the body's immune response to CMV

Infectious disease specialists at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center have identified a protein that regulates the body's immune response to cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common pathogen that causes lifelong infections and can lead to devastating illness in newborns and those with weakened immune systems.

27 Mar 2014

SLU researchers awarded NIH grants to search for a drug to cure hepatitis B

Two grants from the National Institutes of Health will allow Saint Louis University researchers to build on breakthroughs in understanding the hepatitis B virus and begin the search for a drug to cure - not just halt - the illness.

26 Mar 2014

MIT biological engineers trying to adapt MRI to visualize gene activity inside the brains of living animals

Doctors commonly use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to diagnose tumors, damage from stroke, and many other medical conditions. Neuroscientists also rely on it as a research tool for identifying parts of the brain that carry out different cognitive functions.

26 Mar 2014

Genable Technologies, Spark Therapeutics to advance novel therapy for rare form of retinitis pigmentosa

Spark Therapeutics and Genable Technologies announced today that they have entered into a collaboration agreement for Genable's lead therapeutic to treat rhodopsin-linked autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (RHO adRP), GT038.

25 Mar 2014

Researchers develop mathematical model that provides insights about molecular mechanisms behind virus assembly

Mathematicians at the University of York have joined forces with experimentalists at the University of Leeds to take an important step in discovering how viruses make new copies of themselves during an infection.

25 Mar 2014

State highlights: Fla. employees' unequal premiums; abuse by Calif. doctor alleged

The Florida Cabinet, state agency managers and legislative staff are among 30,000 top-ranked state workers who will continue to pay ultra-low health insurance premiums in the coming year. In a reverse of the Robin Hood principle, the state charges lower-paid workers six times more than those who have the highest earnings pay. ... [B]oth the House and Senate this week released initial budgets that would keep premiums at the same rate (3/22).

25 Mar 2014

Marina Cavazzana, Adrian J. Thrasher honored with Pioneer Award for gene therapy

Marina Cavazzana, MD, PhD, Paris Descartes University, France and Adrian J. Thrasher, MD, PhD, University College London Institute of Child Health, UK, have been honored with the Pioneer Award for basic and clinical gene therapy for immunodeficiency disorders.

25 Mar 2014

Scientist receives $275,000 grant to study human papillomavirus that causes head and neck cancer

Basic scientists focus on understanding how things work, so most don't get the chance to directly impact other people's lives. That's why Michelle Ozbun, PhD, is very excited about her recent grant to study human papillomavirus.

25 Mar 2014

Treatment with natalizumab in patients with MS appears linked with JC virus infection

Treatment with natalizumab in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) appears linked with JC virus (JCV) infection, which can lead to a rare and often fatal demyelinating disease of the central nervous system called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) that destroys the myelin that protects nerve cells.

25 Mar 2014

Drugs fail to "wake up" dormant reservoirs of HIV inside immune system T cells

Scientists at Johns Hopkins report that compounds they hoped would "wake up" dormant reservoirs of HIV inside immune system T cells - a strategy designed to reverse latency and make the cells vulnerable to destruction - have failed to do so in laboratory tests of such white blood cells taken directly from patients infected with HIV.

24 Mar 2014

New national research consortium focuses on better drug therapies for viral infections

Viral infections with limited or no treatment options can pose a major global health threat, but a new national research consortium centered at the University of Alabama at Birmingham is focused on the discovery of new and better drug therapies as these viruses emerge.

24 Mar 2014

Research roundup: New medical coding system; choosing a hospice; revamping Medicare

On October 1, 2014, all health plans, health data clearinghouses, and health care providers that transmit health information electronically must use a new, significantly broader, coding system, called ICD-10, for diagnoses and inpatient procedures.

21 Mar 2014

UC San Diego Library becomes official repository for the papers of Jonas Salk

The University of California, San Diego Library has become the official repository for the papers of Jonas Salk, noted physician, virologist, and humanitarian, best known for his development of the world's first successful vaccine for the prevention of polio.

21 Mar 2014

NIH awarded five-year grant of up to $28 million to fight deadly Ebola virus

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a five-year grant of up to $28 million to establish a new center for excellence to find an antibody "cocktail" to fight the deadly Ebola virus.

21 Mar 2014

NIH awards $28M grant to establish new center for excellence to find treatment for Ebola virus

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a five-year, $28 million grant to establish a new center for excellence to find an antibody "cocktail" to fight two types of viruses that cause severe hemorrhagic fever, including the deadly Ebola virus. The project involves researchers from 15 institutions, including Kartik Chandran, Ph.D., and Jonathan Lai, Ph.D., at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. Einstein will receive approximately $4 million of the total grant.

21 Mar 2014

Tamiflu cuts H1N1 pandemic deaths by 25%, shows study

Adults hospitalised with H1N1 influenza during the 2009–2010 pandemic were 25% less likely to die from the disease if they were given antiviral drugs called neuraminidase inhibitors (NAIs) such as Tamiflu, according to a large meta-analysis involving more than 29 000 patients from 38 countries, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal. The findings also indicate that treatment within 2 days of flu symptoms developing halved the risk of death compared with later treatment or no treatment.

20 Mar 2014

CLL patients more prone to infections due to reduced number of antibodies

People with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) are essentially more prone to infections such as varicella, influenza or pneumococci due to the reduction in the number of antibodies that their condition causes.

19 Mar 2014

Quail and chickens are likely sources of infection of H7N9 influenza virus to humans

Among the copious species of poultry in China, quail and chickens are the likely sources of infection of H7N9 influenza virus to humans, according to a paper published ahead of print in the Journal of Virology.

19 Mar 2014

Medivir announces phase III ATTAIN study of simeprevir inhibitor in treatment of adult patients with HCV

Medivir AB today announced that new phase III data for the once-daily protease inhibitor simeprevir have been presented at the Conference of the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL) in Brisbane, Australia.

19 Mar 2014

Patients with both HIV and hepatitis C have 80% higher rates of serious liver disease

A new study led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has found that the risk of hepatitis C-associated serious liver disease persists in HIV patients otherwise benefitting from antiretroviral therapy (ART) to treat HIV.

18 Mar 2014

Virology News and Research

Latest Virology News and Research

Johns Hopkins researchers identify protein that regulates the body's immune response to CMV

SLU researchers awarded NIH grants to search for a drug to cure hepatitis B

MIT biological engineers trying to adapt MRI to visualize gene activity inside the brains of living animals

Genable Technologies, Spark Therapeutics to advance novel therapy for rare form of retinitis pigmentosa

Researchers develop mathematical model that provides insights about molecular mechanisms behind virus assembly

State highlights: Fla. employees' unequal premiums; abuse by Calif. doctor alleged

Marina Cavazzana, Adrian J. Thrasher honored with Pioneer Award for gene therapy

Scientist receives $275,000 grant to study human papillomavirus that causes head and neck cancer

Treatment with natalizumab in patients with MS appears linked with JC virus infection

Drugs fail to "wake up" dormant reservoirs of HIV inside immune system T cells

New national research consortium focuses on better drug therapies for viral infections

Research roundup: New medical coding system; choosing a hospice; revamping Medicare

UC San Diego Library becomes official repository for the papers of Jonas Salk

NIH awarded five-year grant of up to $28 million to fight deadly Ebola virus

NIH awards $28M grant to establish new center for excellence to find treatment for Ebola virus

Tamiflu cuts H1N1 pandemic deaths by 25%, shows study

CLL patients more prone to infections due to reduced number of antibodies

Quail and chickens are likely sources of infection of H7N9 influenza virus to humans

Medivir announces phase III ATTAIN study of simeprevir inhibitor in treatment of adult patients with HCV

Patients with both HIV and hepatitis C have 80% higher rates of serious liver disease

Small solutions for big problems in drug discovery and delivery

Professor Nancy Ip: Pioneering New Paths in Neurodegenerative Therapy

Utilizing process Raman in optimizing cultivated meat production