Home > MRCE Research Themes
Responding to both traditional and new biological threats requires that we
develop new approaches to countermeasures. First, we must be able to rapidly identify and assess
any new biological threat. Our research effort on "Discovery and Characterization of Emerging, Engineered,
and Unrecognized Pathogens" is designed to put the MRCE at the cutting-edge for the rapid identification
of new or altered pathogens. This research program is integrated into our Emergency Response Plan making
this capacity available to the region in the event of a new epidemic of unknown etiology. Beyond responding
to outbreaks, our goal is to prospectively define the landscape of naturally occurring pathogens.
Knowing what pathogens are out there, and what could be coming informs the choice of diagnostic,
therapeutic and preventative targets.
The wide-spectrum of potential threat agents also puts a premium on developing countermeasures
that could be effective against a broad range or class of pathogens. The MRCE effort to understand
"Mechanisms Underlying Innate Immunity to Priority Pathogens"will address this need by providing
new leads to broad-spectrum antimicrobials, to immunomodulators capable of enhancing protective
immunity or decreasing harmful immune responses, and to methods to engineer better biologics and vaccines.
MRCE Research Themes short descriptions:
1) Discovery and Characterization of Emerging, Engineered, and Unrecognized Pathogens
2) Mechanisms Underlying Innate Immunity to Priority Pathogens