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From: TSS (216-119-144-36.ipset24.wt.net)
Subject: Re: DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE NATIONAL PRION RESEARCH PROGRAM
Date: August 13, 2004 at 1:41 pm PST
In Reply to: DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE NATIONAL PRION RESEARCH PROGRAM posted by TSS on August 10, 2004 at 9:05 am:
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE NATIONAL PRION RESEARCH PROGRAM
Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 11:53:14 -0500
From: "Terry S. Singeltary Sr."
Reply-To: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
To: BSE-L@uni-karlsruhe.de
References: <4118F22E.5050504@wt.net>
######## Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy #########
NATIONAL PRION RESEARCH PROGRAM 2003 ...shaping the future of health care
to prevent, control, and cure diseases.
X. National Prion
Research Program
Vision: To eliminate the occurrence of human transmissible
spongiform encephalopathies.
Mission: To develop a diagnostic test to detect the presence of
prion disease.
Congressional Appropriations for Peer Reviewed
Research: $42.5M in FY02
Funding Summary: 38 awards from the FY02 appropriation
X-2
The Disease
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) refer to several apparently
related diseases including Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD) and its new
variant
(nvCJD), kuru, bovine spongiform encephalopathy ("mad cow disease"), and
others. Except for nvCJD,TSEs appear to develop progressively over many
years, lead to extensive central nervous system vacuole formation, and are
invariably fatal. At present, definitive diagnosis can only be made at
autopsy.
The diseases are relatively rare in humans but have been documented most
extensively in hoofed mammals. The current disease theory attributes TSEs
to "prions," normal cell membrane proteins with atypical three-dimensional
configurations, transmitted by ingestion or possibly blood transfer.
Although
a Nobel Prize was awarded for the work underlying this proposed
mechanism (Prusiner, 1997), it remains controversial because disease
transmission is traditionally associated with an agent capable of
replication.
The health threats posed by TSEs currently appear to involve the food and
blood supplies. These health threats put military beneficiaries in
affected areas
overseas at risk. Research and development of means for diagnosis,
prevention, and treatment face significant difficulties. These include
uncertainty about disease mechanisms,TSEs’ slow progression in most cases,
the lack of a diagnostic tool, and uncertainty about the similarities
between
animal and human diseases. In addition,TSE research requires BioSafety Level
3 facilities for some work.
Program Background
The Department of Defense (DOD) National Prion Research Program
(NPRP) was established in fiscal year (FY02) by Joint Appropriations
Conference Committee Report No. 107-350, which provided $42.5
million (M) for research on prion disease. A U.S. Army Medical Research
and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) Steering Committee, including
representatives of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, was
convened to address TSE-related issues specific to military missions and to
support the NPRP based upon the USAMRMC’s experience in infectious
disease detection and diagnosis. A stakeholders’ meeting was held in
which military, scientific, regulatory, industry, and public health
stakeholders
provided input on the major issues in TSE research. Based upon the
stakeholders’ recommendations, an Integration Panel (composed of TSE
experts from the military, scientific, regulatory, industry, and public
health
communities) was selected to determine the vision and investment
National Prion Research Program
X-3
strategy. Appendix B,Table B-8, summarizes the congressional appropriations
and the investment strategy executed by the NPRP for FY02.
The Fiscal Year 2002 Program
The goal of the FY02 NPRP was to develop a rapid, sensitive, and
reproducible test for the detection of prions suitable for use as an
antemortem
diagnostic test as well as a screening assay. In support of this goal,
proposals were also solicited to better understand the prevention,
transmission, and pathogenesis of TSEs to include chronic wasting disease,
and proposals with military relevance were specifically sought. Four award
mechanisms were offered in two award categories: research and
training/recruitment. Table X-1 provides a summary of the FY02 NPRP
award categories and mechanisms in terms of number of proposals
received, number of awards, and dollars invested. As illustrated in Figure
X-1, the portfolio of research supported by the FY02 NPRP spans four
award mechanisms.
A total of 136 proposals was received, and 38 awards were made. The
Idea Awards were offered to encourage innovative approaches to TSE
research from both established TSE investigators and investigators in other
fields who want to move into TSE-related research. Investigator-Initiated
Research Awards (with an option for nested pre- and postdoctoral
traineeships) emphasized the introduction of new research paradigms,
technologies, and expertise to the TSE field especially through the
development of partnerships between academic and industry researchers
or between established TSE researchers and researchers from other
disciplines. Career Transition Awards were intended to facilitate career
advancements by accommodating the relatively long time that it takes to
generate data in prion experimental models. These awards were designed
to support the last 2 years of a postdoctoral traineeship and the first
3 years of a junior faculty position. Finally, Prion Techniques Fellowship
Awards offered investigators the opportunity to work in the laboratory of
established prion researchers to acquire critical skills or learn new
methods relevant to prion research.
National Prion Research Program National Prion Research P
Table X-1. Funding Summary for the FY02 NPRP
Category and Number of Number of Investment
Award Mechanism Proposals Received Awards
Research
Idea 65 17 $7.8M
Investigator-Initiated 64 16 $27.8M
Training/Recruitment
Career Transition 6 4 $1.6M
Prion Techniques Fellowship 1 1 $0.04M
Total 136 38 $37.24M
Figure X-1. FY02 NPRP Portfolio
by Award Mechanism
Diagnostic
Tests
15 (39%)
Basic
15 (39%)
Reagents/
Models
4 (11%)
Prevention/
Treatment
4 (11%)
X-4
Summary
The NPRP was established in FY02 with a $42.5M congressional
appropriation. While Congress did not appropriate funds for the NPRP in
FY03, investigators supported by this program are working to rapidly
develop a definitive and reproducible diagnostic test for the detection of
prion disease before death as well as for use as a screening assay.
National Prion Research Program National Prion Research Prog
Expanding the Prion Research
Community
The prion research community has
long been recognized as a small group
of dedicated researchers studying an
elusive disease. Recent concerns over
potential contamination of the food
and blood supply prompted the U.S.
Congress to provide the largest single
appropriation in history for prionrelated
research – $42.5M to the FY02
NPRP. This influx of funding has
opened the doors to a number of
institutions and researchers, including
previously established prion disease
researchers, new researchers entering
the field, and established scientists in
other fields interested in expanding
their expertise to the study of prion
disease. The NPRP is supporting
investigators from 30 institutions,
including 14 previously established
prion disease researchers, 40 pre- and
post-doctoral trainees, and 15
scientists in other fields that are now
turning their attention to the study of
prion disease. With this expansion in
the prion research community, it is
anticipated that the research supported
by this program will help answer
many questions associated with the
disease.
Fiscal Year 2002 Integration Panel Members
Salvatore Cirone, D.V.M.,
M.P.V.M.
Department of Health Affairs
Brenda Cuccherini, Ph.D.,
M.P.H.
Department of Veterans Affairs
Linda Detwiler, D.V.M.
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service
Roger Dodd, Ph.D.
American Red Cross Holland
Laboratory
Colonel Michael Fitzpatrick,
Ph.D.
DOD Armed Services Blood
Program Office
George Nemo, Ph.D.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute
Stephen Nightingale, M.D.
Department of Health and Human
Services
Bruno Oesch, Ph.D.
Prionics, Inc.
Mark Pitman, Ph.D.
Medical Research Council of the
United Kingdom
Suzette Priola, Ph.D.
National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases
Taryn Rogalski-Salter, Ph.D.
GlaxoSmithKline and
Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers of America
Larry Schonberger, M.D.,
M.P.H.
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention
Dorothy Scott, M.D.
Food and Drug Administration
Colonel Scott Severin
DOD Veterinary Services Activity
Robert Will, M.D.
National Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease
Surveillance Unit Edinburgh United
Kingdom http://cdmrp.army.mil/annreports/2003annrep/pdf/10_nprp.pdf Prion Techniques Fellowship NPRP (FY02) 1 $0.04M Total 1,502 $187.7M http://cdmrp.army.mil/annreports/2003annrep/pdf/2%5Faccomplish.pdf TSS Terry S. Singeltary Sr. wrote: > ######## Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
> #########
>
> December 15 2003
>
> FACT SHEET
>
> DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE NATIONAL PRION RESEARCH PROGRAM SNIP...END...TSS
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