The joint U.S.-Georgian team is headed by Konstantin Severinov, associate professor at Rutgers' Waksman Institute of Microbiology and Tarasi Gabisonia of the Eliava Institute of Bacteriophage, Microbiology and Virology, Republic of Georgia. According to the CRDF, the team aims to create a novel treatment that could be used against all bacterial pathogens that cause salmonella infection in humans.
"This joint partnership between Rutgers and the Republic of Georgia can lead to a breakthrough treatment in the fight against salmonella infection," Pallone said. "These scientists will work to prevent massive outbreaks of salmonella poisoning, a threat that must be taken seriously in this post 9-11 world."
According to Dr. Severinov, "salmonella bacteria belong to a category of food or waterborne pathogens that are fairly easy to disseminate and can cause serious illness and in some cases lead to death. Since the early 1990s, strains of salmonella bacteria that are resistant to a variety of antibiotics have appeared and are threatening to become a serious health problem."
"As a result, interest in the use of a bacteriophage - virus that infects bacteria - treatment as alternative to antibiotic treatments has increased. Our Georgian colleagues have a unique expertise in phage therapy," Dr. Severinov said." "Together, we intend to develop a bacteriophage treatment that could be an effective remedy against massive outbreaks of drug-resistant salmonella."
The grant is part of a series of awards that fall under the CRDF's Special Competition for Research on Minimizing the Effects of Terrorist Acts on Civilian Populations. Each grant provides nine months of support to joint teams of U.S. and former Soviet scientists working on finding innovative solutions to minimize the impact of terrorist threats. The competition is the foundation's response to the events of September 11, 2001 and was authorized by the CRDF Board of Directors as a meaningful and timely contribution to the fight against terrorism. Most of the teams include scientists who have experience in the design, development or production of weapons of mass destruction technologies. Dr. Gabisonia's team has scientists with experience biological weapons.
Funding for the CRDF Cooperative Grants Program, which sponsors the cooperative research anti-terrorism grants, comes from the U.S. Department of State, National Science Foundation, and National Institutes of Health. The CRDF is currently completing its review of additional proposals and plans to announce further cooperative research awards in the near future.
The U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation is a private, nonprofit organization authorized by the U.S. Congress and established by the National Science Foundation in 1995. The CRDF supports scientific and technical collaboration between the United States and the countries of the former Soviet Union through grants, technical resources, and training. The foundation also promotes the transition of weapons scientists to civilian work to help reduce the global spread of weapons of mass destruction. The CRDF is based in Arlington, Virginia with offices in Moscow, Russia and Kyiv, Ukraine.
CONTACT AT CRDF: Chantal Guess
Tel: 703-526-6746; E-mail: cguess@crdf.org