DOD MED DEF AG INF DIS

Abstract

This project conducts applied research for medical countermeasures to naturally occurring infectious diseases that pose a significant threat to the operational effectiveness of forces deployed outside the United States. Effective preventive countermeasures (protective/therapeutic drugs and vaccines, insect repellents and traps) protect the Force from disease and sustain operations by avoiding the need for evacuations from the theater of operations. Diseases of military importance are malaria, bacterial diarrhea, and viral diseases (e.g., dengue fever and hantavirus). In addition to countermeasures, this project funds refinement of improved diagnostic tools to facilitate early identification of infectious disease threats in an operational environment, informing Commanders of the need to institute preventive actions and improved medical care. Major goals are to integrate genomics (DNA-based) and proteomics (protein-based) as well as other new biotechnologies into the refinement of new concepts for new vaccine, drug, and diagnostics candidates. Research conducted in this project focuses on the following five areas: (1) Drugs to Prevent/Treat Parasitic (symbiotic relationship between two organisms) Diseases (2) Vaccines for Preventing Malaria (3) Bacterial Threats (4) Diagnostics and Disease Transmission Control (5) Viral Threats For the refinement of drugs and biological products, studies in the laboratory and in animal models provide a proof-of-concept for these candidate products including safety, toxicity, and effectiveness, and are necessary to provide evidence to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to justify approval for a product to enter into future human subject testing. Additional non-clinical studies are often needed in Applied Research even after candidate products enter into human testing during Advanced Technology Development, usually at the direction of the FDA, to assess potential safety issues. Drug and vaccine refinement bears high technical risk. Of those candidates identified as promising in initial screens, the vast majority are eliminated after additional safety, toxicity, and/or effectiveness testing. Similarly, vaccine candidates have a high failure rate, as animal testing may not be a good predictor of human response, and therefore candidate technologies/products are often eliminated after going into human trials. Because of this high failure rate, a continuing effort to identify other potential candidates to sustain a working pipeline of countermeasures is critical for replacing those products that fail in testing. Work is managed by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command in coordination with the Naval Medical Research Center. The Army is responsible for programming and funding all DoD naturally occurring infectious disease research requirements, thereby precluding duplication of effort within the Military Departments. Promising medical countermeasures identified in this project are further matured under PE 0603002A, project 810. The cited work is consistent with the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Research and Engineering Science and Technology focus areas and the Army Modernization Strategy. Work in this project is performed by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), Silver Spring, MD, and its overseas laboratories; the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Fort Detrick, MD; and the Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC), Silver Spring, MD, and its overseas laboratories. Efforts in this project support the Soldier Portfolio and the principle area of Military Relevant Infectious Diseases.

Document Details

• Document Type: Project
• Publication Date: Oct 01, 2013
• Source ID: 870_0602787A_2_2040_PB_2013

Tags

Readers

• Infectious Disease/Epidemiology
• Military Science and Technology Research and Modernization.

Technology Areas

• Biotechnology