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Pirbright's Livestock Antibody Hub receives $5.5 million award from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funds development of Pirbright’s Livestock Antibody Hub supporting animal and human health

by The Poultry Site

16 November 2019, at 12:00am

Researchers from The Pirbright Institute have been awarded US $5.5 million by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to establish a Livestock Antibody Hub aimed at improving animal and human health globally. The ambitious programme of work will see extensive collaboration between multiple UK research organisations in order to utilise research outcomes in livestock disease and immunology to support human health as part of the ‘One Health’ agenda.

Six leading scientists from Pirbright will be involved in the project, including Professor John Hammond, Professor Venugopal Nair, Dr Simon Graham, Dr Elma Tchilian, Professor Munir Iqbal and Dr Erica Bickerton. Their combined expert knowledge will drive the study of cattle, pig and poultry antibody responses at high resolution to expand our understanding of protective immunity in species that can also be used as models for a range of human infectious diseases.

The aim is to use Pirbright’s expertise in livestock viral diseases, cutting-edge technology and unique high-containment facilities to bring antibody discovery, manipulation and testing up to the benchmark already seen in the immunological field for rodents and humans. This highly collaborative work will address the needs of the livestock research community whilst bridging the requirements of the vaccine industry. ...

Please read complete press release at https://thepoultrysite.com/news/2019/11/pirbrights-livestock-antibody-hub-receives-5-5-million-award-from-bill-melinda-gates-foundation