Scialog\u2014which is short for \u201cscience + dialog\u201d\u2014supports research by stimulating intensive interdisciplinary conversation and building a community of early career scientists around a scientific theme of global importance. The Mitigating Zoonotic Threats initiative is focused on the detection and mitigation of emerging animal-borne infectious diseases.<\/p>\n \u201cDeveloping research partnerships between USDA and academic scientists is a specific part of ARS\u2019 mission,\u201d said Jeff Silverstein, deputy administrator, USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS). \u201cWe want to capture new perspectives and create long-term networks for improving surveillance, preparation and countermeasure development to mitigate zoonotic disease.\u201d<\/p>\n Each of the individual awards is $50,000. As a member of two team projects, “Enabling Comprehensive Immunoprofiling in Animals through a Combination of Xenosurveillance and Highly-multiplexed Serology\u201d and “Zoonotic Implications of Host Genetics, Immunity, and Virome in Bats,” Ladner, a biologist, will receive two awards.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough participation in this program, I\u2019ve formed two exciting new collaborations, both of which are facilitating new applications for a serological approach I\u2019ve been developing at NAU\u2019s Pathogen and Microbiome Institute,\u201d Ladner said. \u201cSpecifically, I\u2019ll be applying our PepSeq platform for highly-multiplexed serology to disease surveillance within captive and wild animal populations. By measuring antibody reactivity to hundreds of thousands of peptides, this technology will provide a broad view of the different viruses infecting these animals, which serve as important reservoirs and conduits for viruses that may emerge in humans.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really excited to explore the potential for this technology, which has thus far only been used in humans, for better understanding viral diversity in animals and therefore, helping us prepare for viruses that may emerge in humans.\u201d<\/p>\n Hepp, whose work focuses heavily on genomic epidemiology, has been awarded as a member on the project, \u201cEstimating Aedes aegypti<\/em> Spillover Potential and Evaluation of Current Mitigation Strategies.\u201d\u00a0She and Silvie Huijben at ASU, another co-PI on the grant, have been trying to work on an arbovirus-related project for a while but hadn\u2019t been able to find the time to plan that project.<\/p>\n \u201cThis Scialog initiative provided the time and space we needed to effectively collaborate and to find our missing piece: Kezia Manlove, an infectious disease and contact network modeler at Utah State University,\u201d she said. \u201cKnowing that Aedes aegypti<\/em> is prevalent in Arizona and that this vector has the capacity to transmit several arboviruses of pandemic potential, our team is dedicated to identifying locations in Arizona that are at highest risk for spillover events and the mitigation efforts that are most likely to be effective.<\/p>\n In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, her team is always looking ahead.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are always waiting for the next pandemic to happen and then implementing responses reactively,\u201d she said. \u201cThis project is about being proactive by implementing additional layers of flavivirus-agnostic surveillance and evaluating the most effective tools to respond immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Jason](\"http:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wordpresst\/uploads\/sites\/153\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Ladner.jpg\")
![\"Crystal](\"http:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wordpresst\/uploads\/sites\/153\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Hepp.jpg\")
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