$2.5 million to help U. fight bioterror

The anthrax letters following Sept. 11 pointed out a vulnerability in the American health system: inadequate ability to diagnose, treat or vaccinate against infectious disease outbreaks, whether natural or caused by bioterrorism.

That's changing as federal emphasis is shifting to emergency preparedness and improved education.

As part of that, the University of Utah will receive at least $2.5 million of a $40 million grant to a six-state program created to find new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat emerging infectious diseases and fight bioterrorism, it was announced Wednesday.

The U. is part of the Rocky Mountain Regional Center for Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, one of 10 regional centers established after terrorism concerns focused attention on homeland security, including strengthening the health system and public health preparedness. The center, headquartered at Colorado State University, is made up of 15 universities, hospitals and government agencies in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota, according to Jill Trewhella, chemistry professor and special projects director in the U. Office of the Vice President for Research. The U. and Utah State University are both part of the Rocky Mountain Center.

The center's special emphasis is on human susceptibility to disease, which is "important in being able to treat it," said Trewhella. Issues include why some people who get a disease such as West Nile virus have more severe symptoms than others — what determines whether someone lives or dies.

The center's goal is to create research projects to provide data to those responsible for crafting treatments and to translate advances in the laboratory into a "capability we can have in our hands to deal with an actual situation" such as vaccines or drugs that can defeat an infection. Two other goals are to improve training and outreach and develop preparedness so that capabilities are readily available should something happen, Trewhella said.

Participation in the Centers for Excellence puts a university or hospital "on the forefront of biomedical research to address emerging infectious diseases like West Nile virus and preparedness for defending our citizens in the event of a bioterrorist attack," she said.

Including this major grant and another $50 million grant to the regional center that's headquartered in California, total centers funding now totals $430 million.

Four U. faculty members have five projects as part of the regional effort. Preliminary plans for four-year funding include: