The University of Chicago has been selected as one of eight Regional Centers of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research (RCE), an effort that includes researchers from Northwestern, Argonne National Laboratory, and eleven additional regional universities, hospitals and research groups. Other lead institutions for the remaining seven regional centers are Duke University; Harvard Medical School; New York State Department of Health; University of Maryland; University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston; University of Washington; and Washington University in St. Louis.

The University will serve as the lead for the Midwestern center and will be headed by Dr. Olaf Schneewind, Professor of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology and Chair of the Committee on Microbiology.

“While this project has been driven by recent concerns about bioterrorism, the knowledge we will gain from it could have a significant impact on humanity’s eternal battle against all infectious diseases,” said Schneewind. “The NIH is placing high priority on research on the diseases caused by organisms that could be used as bioterror agents, as well as diseases that are emerging or re-emerging threats to public health.”

The grant, provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), contributes more than $35 million over five years to the study of the causes and treatments of infectious diseases. The Midwestern research effort will concentrate on the developing vaccines, treatments and diagnostics for anthrax, botulism, tularemia, hemorrhagic fever viruses and plaque.

“The new RCE program provides a coordinated and comprehensive mechanism to support the interdisciplinary research that will lead to new and improved therapies, vaccines, diagnostics and other tools to protect the citizens of our country and the world against the threat of bioterrorism and other emerging and re-emerging diseases,” said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, NIAID director.

In addition to the establishment of the Midwestern RCE at the University, NIAID has also announced that one of nine Regional Biocontainment Laboratories (RBLs) will be constructed at Argonne National Laboratory. The RBL at Argonne will complement and support the activities of the Midwestern RCE while providing comprehensive, state-of-the-art biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) and BSL-3 laboratory space. These laboratories will provide multiple layers of protection for both researchers and the surrounding environment.

Bringing together all of the elements required to establish the Midwestern RCE center at the University was a challenge for Schneewind and Elizabeth Adams, Committee on Microbiology Administrator, who assisted Schneewind in assembling the proposals.

“About half of the RCE application process was spent developing a consortium of fourteen institutions, which was a critical and absorbing task,” said Adams. “We physically assembled the 1100 page RCE proposal in an eighteen-hour period, took a day to sleep, and then began the RBL submission process.”

The hard work paid off, though, when Schneewind and the University were notified of their selection as the lead institution for the region.

“The award of the RCE and RBL identifies the University of Chicago as a world leader in microbiological and infectious diseases research, as well as public health administration,” said Schneewind. “In assuming responsibility for a significant part of the federal biodefense agenda, the University of Chicago enriches its own tradition of playing a prominent role in addressing the societal problems of each generation.”

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