USA- National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) have announced a partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital with the goal of enhancing virus research capabilities and capacity to respond to infectious disease outbreaks.
On August 18, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), was visited by IBS President NOH Do Young, IBS Korea Virus Research Institute (KVRI) Managing Director CHOI Young Ki, and others.
With a budget of about US$6 billion annually, NIAID carries out scientific and applied research on infectious, immunologic, and allergy illnesses.
Meetings were scheduled with NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, Principal Deputy Director Hugh Auchincloss, Acting Director Richard Koup of the Vaccine Research Center, and other officials from the organization’s scientific divisions.
Participants in the meeting talked about the most recent research developments at their individual institutions and potential opportunities for cross-institutional collaboration.
President LEE Yong Hoon from the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) and scientists from the Korea Brain Research Institute (KBRI) were also present at these meetings.
These initial discussions may pave the way for future dialogue and information sharing in the realm of biosciences between the IBS and NIH.
In order to conduct collaborative research, including the exchange of research personnel, the IBS KVRI intends to make use of a variety of infrastructure and research resources owned by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, including the genome information of new and variant viruses from around the world.
In addition to introducing the newly established KVRI, President NOH Do Young said, “I hope there will be a broad cooperation between KVRI and NIAID.”
Noh added that in particular, much synergy is to be expected through joint research with the NIAID Vaccine Research Center.
He looks forward to starting cooperation soon, such as by hosting a joint symposium, and asked Dr. Fauci for his advice for KVRI.
Dr. Fauci advised IBS and KVRI to look into prospective partnerships with several NIAID divisions and other NIH institutions and centers.
He also emphasized how crucial it is for the government to consistently support biomedical research, regardless of the political climate.
In order to conduct collaborative research, including the exchange of research personnel, the IBS KVRI intends to make use of a variety of infrastructure and research resources owned by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, including the genome information of new and variant viruses from around the world.
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