From Our Partners
Sunday, July 3, 2022
News on Pathogens and Preparedness
Global Biodefense
  • Featured
  • COVID-19
  • Funding
  • Directory
  • Jobs
  • Events
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
  • Featured
  • COVID-19
  • Funding
  • Directory
  • Jobs
  • Events
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
Global Biodefense
No Result
View All Result
Home CBRNE

USAMRIID Scientist Wins AMSUS Research and Development

by Global Biodefense Staff
February 25, 2022
USAMRIID Scientists Continue Critical Work Against Select Agents While Aiding Pandemic Response

The U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases is the only laboratory in the DoD equipped to safely study highly hazardous viruses requiring maximum containment at Biosafety Level 4. Credit: Phil Fountain

Xiankun (Kevin) Zeng, Ph.D., a molecular biologist and principal investigator at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), is the recipient of the 2021-2022 Research and Development Award presented by AMSUS, the Society of Federal Health Professionals.

Zeng was honored during the AMSUS virtual annual meeting on Feb 24.

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Zeng was the first scientist to quickly develop and validate highly reliable and sensitive molecular pathology assays to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection in tissue samples. These assays proved to be a cornerstone of SARS-CoV-2 research, enabling scientists to perform natural history studies that mapped the disease course of this novel virus.

Importantly, Zeng’s research also supported USAMRIID’s ability to rapidly develop several COVID-19 animal models that successfully recapitulated human disease in mice, hamsters, and nonhuman primates. These models are essential for preclinical evaluation of vaccines, therapies, and diagnostic tools—an important step in the pathway to licensure by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Xiankun (Kevin) Zeng, Ph.D., a molecular biologist and principal investigator at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), is the recipient of the 2021-2022 Research and Development Award presented by AMSUS, the Society of Federal Health Professionals. Photo: USAMRIID Courtesy Photo

His research paper reporting these assays appeared in JCI Insight, a journal published by the American Society for Clinical Investigation, in 2020. It was the first of many SARS-CoV-2 publications from USAMRIID. Since then, Zeng has continued to collaborate with a dozen research teams worldwide, helping them to develop and validate their own SARS-CoV-2 assays.

“I am very honored and humbled to be receiving this award,” said Zeng, who has served with USAMRIID’s Pathology Division since May 2015. He previously worked as a research scientist at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (Janelia Research Campus) after completing his postdoctoral research training at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health. He earned his Ph.D. in molecular genetics from Southeast University, China, in 2007.

In addition to his contributions to SARS-CoV-2 research, Zeng is a leading expert on persistent infection of other highly pathogenic viruses, such as Ebola virus, Marburg virus, Nipah virus, and Lassa virus. He has over 75 scientific publications to his credit, including 13 papers on SARS-CoV-2, and his research has been published in Nature, Nature Microbiology, Science Translational Medicine, and Cell Host & Microbe.

SEE ALSO:

  • Detailed analysis of the pathologic hallmarks of Nipah virus (Malaysia) disease in the African green monkey infected by the intratracheal route. PLoS ONE
  • Ebola virus persistence and disease recrudescence in the brains of antibody-treated nonhuman primate survivors. Science Translational Medicine
  • Hamsters Expressing Human Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 Develop Severe Disease following Exposure to SARS-CoV-2. mBio
  • A SARS-CoV-2 ferritin nanoparticle vaccine elicits protective immune responses in nonhuman primates. Science Translational Medicine
  • Remdesivir is efficacious in rhesus monkeys exposed to aerosolized Ebola virus. Scientific Reports
  • Efficacy and breadth of adjuvanted SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain nanoparticle vaccine in macaques. PNAS
  • African-Lineage Zika Virus Replication Dynamics and Maternal-Fetal Interface Infection in Pregnant Rhesus Macaques. Journal of Virology
  • Comparison of three non-human primate aerosol models for glanders, caused by Burkholderia mallei. Microbial Pathogenesis
  • Development of a coronavirus disease 2019 nonhuman primate model using airborne exposure. PLoS ONE
  • Small animal jet injection technique results in enhanced immunogenicity of hantavirus DNA vaccines. Vaccine
  • Comparative Pathology Study of Venezuelan, Eastern, and Western Equine Encephalitis Viruses in Non-human Primates. Antiviral Research
From Our Partners
Tags: CoronavirusEditor PickLeadershipSelect AgentsUSAMRIID

Related Posts

Send in the Blow Flies: Using Insects to Sample Areas for Chemical Warfare Agents
CBRNE

Send in the Blow Flies: Using Insects to Sample Areas for Chemical Warfare Agents

April 11, 2022
State Department: Reducing Revisionist State Biological and Chemical Weapons Threats
CBRNE

CounterACT: U.S. Funding Early Stage Drug Discovery of Countermeasures Against Chemical Threats

March 21, 2022
DHS S&T Commercialization Accelerator Program 2022 Call for Proposals
CBRNE

DHS S&T Commercialization Accelerator Program 2022 Call for Proposals

March 15, 2022
Emergency Response Missions for Recovered Chemical Warfare Material
CBRNE

Emergency Response Missions for Recovered Chemical Warfare Material

March 13, 2022
Load More

Latest News

Poliovirus Detected in London Sewage: Response Measures Emphasize Wastewater Surveillance and Vaccination Gaps

Poliovirus Detected in London Sewage: Response Measures Emphasize Wastewater Surveillance and Vaccination Gaps

June 22, 2022
Monkeypox Diagnostics: CDC Authorizes Five Commercial Lab Companies

Monkeypox Diagnostics: CDC Authorizes Five Commercial Lab Companies

June 22, 2022
UK Health Security Agency Widens Monkeypox Vaccine Umbrella for Outbreak Control

UK Health Security Agency Widens Monkeypox Vaccine Umbrella for Outbreak Control

June 21, 2022
Influenza Research

New Way to Identify Influenza A Virus Lights Up When Specific Virus Targets are Present

June 20, 2022

Subscribe

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Subscribe

© 2022 Stemar Media Group LLC

No Result
View All Result
  • Featured
  • COVID-19
  • Funding
  • Directory
  • Jobs
  • Events
  • Subscribe

© 2022 Stemar Media Group LLC