Pathogenic Mammarenavirus and Orthohantavirus in Argentina

In 2022, the lnstituto National de Enfermedades Virales Humanas {National Institute of Human Viral Diseases), located in Argentina, was awarded a Pilot Research Grant funded by NIAID's Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases (CREID) Network. Dr. Robert Cross was the designated primary United States mentor for the INEVH team.  However, upon being chosen for this highly competitive award it was later realized that the administration team at INEVH does not currently have a mechanism to accept foreign funds on a contract or grant basis which has prevented the acceptance of the CREID pilot grant agreement to date. In an effort to find a solution to keep the project moving forward, RTI International (the contracting organization hired by NIAID to facilitate the pilot program) has requested that UTMB lead the project and be primary recipient of the funds.

Dr. Cross will assist with delivery of supplies and reagents to Dr. Martin and Ms. Sen for their research activities related to this project. Trainings and mentoring events will be carried out both onsite at INEVH (lab and field; one mentor visit has already been carried out where Dr Hanley visited one of the field sites with Dr. Martin for rodent collections) and at UTMB where we will provide direct mentoring and targeted training tied to molecular diagnostics, field collections, or biosafety. Training events will last 1-2 weeks for mentored visits and 2-4 weeks at UTMB for lab, field, and biosafety training.

This project was designed and proposed by Dr. Martin and Ms. Sen, so the expectation is that

they will drive leadership and execution of the activities with mentors only playing a supporting role.

The bioanalyzer will be purchased and sent to UTMB, then transported to INEVH by UTMB staff as we have done for other equipment purchased in support of the parent center grant and housed in collaborating institutions.