Newswise — Baltimore, Maryland, USA, March 23, 2022: The Global Virus Network (GVN), representing 69 Centers of Excellence and 11 Affiliates in 37 countries comprising foremost experts in every class of virus causing disease in humans and some animals, and the Aegis Consortium at the University of Arizona Health Sciences announced today the induction of Aegis as GVN’s newest Center of Excellence.
“We are pleased to add the Aegis Consortium’s diverse experts from all corners of the human experience to develop pandemic solutions,” said Christian Bréchot, MD, PhD, who is President of the GVN and Professor at the University of South Florida. “An immediate priority is to incorporate Aegis’ expertise on prolonged COVID-19 symptoms to identify risks contributing to post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection, as well as approaches for treatment and prevention.”
The Aegis Consortium is located within University of Arizona Health Sciences, an internationally recognized leader in biomedical research and one of the top-ranked academic medical centers in the southwestern United States. UArizona Health Sciences includes the College of Medicine – Tucson, College of Medicine – Phoenix, College of Nursing, R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, and Health Sciences Global and Online. Located on campuses in Tucson, Phoenix and Gilbert, Arizona, UArizona Health Sciences reaches across Arizona, the Southwest and around the world to provide next-generation education, research, clinical care and outreach. A major economic engine, UArizona Health Sciences employs nearly 5,000 people, has approximately 4,000 students and 900 faculty members, and garners more than $220 million in research grants and contracts annually. In 2021, the University of Arizona’s research and development expenditures ranked in the top 4% of all U.S. universities. The latest GVN Center is led by Janko Nikolich-Žugich, MD, PhD, Director, Aegis Consortium, College of Medicine – Tucson, Department Head and Professor, Immunobiology, and Co-Director, Arizona Center on Aging.
“We look forward to fostering deep relationships and interactions with other GVN members and remaining highly participative and engaged with GVN’s many pursuits to help mitigate and manage pandemics,” said, Dr. Nikolich-Žugich. “Aegis is very much aligned with GVN, and we intend to openly share and collaborate among our many shared research interests.”
The Aegis Consortium’s strength in developing strategies is defined by three pillars including: Pandemic Control, Prediction and Preparedness; Post-Acute effects of Pandemics on Individuals and Societies; and Resilience of Built and Natural Environments in Pandemic Control. As a major university and research institution, Aegis comprises the full complement of biomedical science disciplines as well as internationally recognized researchers, many of whom have developed “industry firsts” relative to pandemic surveillance, clinical investigations and COVID-19 mitigation strategies. Aegis is one of 15 designated centers in the U.S. to study the ongoing effects of Long COVID through the RECOVER study, funded by National Health Lung and Blood Institute on a multi-year basis.
“The GVN looks forward to collaborating with the Aegis Consortium to improve the global understanding of COVID-19 and develop strategies to improve the health of communities impacted by pandemics,” said Robert Gallo, MD, The Homer & Martha Gudelsky Distinguished Professor in Medicine, Co-Founder and Director of the Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, a GVN Center of Excellence, and Co-Founder and International Scientific Director of the GVN.
About the Global Virus Network (GVN)
The Global Virus Network (GVN) is essential and critical in the preparedness, defense and first research response to emerging, existing and unidentified viruses that pose a clear and present threat to public health, working in close coordination with established national and international institutions. It is a coalition comprised of eminent human and animal virologists from 69 Centers of Excellence and 11 Affiliates in 37 countries worldwide, working collaboratively to train the next generation, advance knowledge about how to identify and diagnose pandemic viruses, mitigate and control how such viruses spread and make us sick, as well as develop drugs, vaccines and treatments to combat them. No single institution in the world has expertise in all viral areas other than the GVN, which brings together the finest medical virologists to leverage their individual expertise and coalesce global teams of specialists on the scientific challenges, issues and problems posed by pandemic viruses. The GVN is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. For more information, please visit www.gvn.org. Follow us on Twitter @GlobalVirusNews
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