The New England Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases (NERCE) may have a lengthy name, but its mission is simple: fostering safe and effective multidisciplinary research on infectious diseases. Funded in 2003 for five years by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the center has just received its second round of funding for the next five years, with a total of $10 million for the first year.
The New England Regional Center, with HMS as the lead institution, is one of 11 such centers across the country. “Our network of research collaborations supports basic science and translational research,” said Dennis Kasper, the William Ellery Channing professor of microbiology and molecular genetics and scientific director and principal investigator of the NERCE program. “Our goal is to develop therapeutics and vaccines against current and emerging infectious-disease threats.”
These threats are myriad, including everything from such potential bioweapons as anthrax to food- and waterborne pathogens such as E. coli and salmonella; viruses such as West Nile and those causing eastern equine encephalitis and hepatitis C; and emerging threats such as virulent influenza and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.
To attack these and other NIAID “priority pathogens,” NERCE harnesses recent advances in genomics, proteomics, structural biology, immunology, vaccinology, chemistry, drug screening and materials science. “We are a catalyst for collaborative efforts and creative thinking,” said Gerald Beltz, associate director for research at NERCE and an HMS research associate in microbiology and molecular genetics. “And as a bridge to industry, we’re looking to take some of the risk out of the development process.”
Among the center’s primary objectives are to establish programs of investigator-initiated research; train researchers to work with biodefense and emerging infectious-disease pathogens; create core facilities to support research; develop capacity for translational research; and provide facilities and scientific support to first responders in a national emergency involving bioweapons or infectious diseases. The center funds research projects, developmental pilot projects, career development fellows, new opportunities projects and core laboratories (microbiology and animal resources, small-molecule screening, biomolecule production and live-cell imaging). NERCE serves the six New England states, although its molecular screening laboratory is a national core facility.
Among its many achievements during its first five years, the center directly supported 65 investigators from 15 New England institutions; played a critical role in establishing the ICCB-Longwood screening facility; produced 101 peer-reviewed publications; and provided additional HMS resources for NMR, RNA interference and mass spectrometry. In a unique approach, NERCE does not charge a fee for its services—a particular benefit for beginning investigators.
During the next five years, NERCE plans 13 research programs with three themes: enveloped highly pathogenic RNA viruses (such as ebola), bacterial pathogens (toxins, pathogenesis and immunity) and discovery of small molecules as molecular probes and therapeutic lead compounds. The center also plans to support developmental pilot projects, career development fellows and workshops. “Our mission is to discover innovative ways of combating biological threats, whether intentional or naturally occurring,” said Kasper. “With this new funding, we are well on our way to fulfilling this mission.”
