Research

 Image of an arrow labelled emerging pathogens. The arrow connects to a cog labelled samples. The sample cog is being moved by another cog labelled virology. The virology cog is moved by 2 cogs labelled vaccines and antivirals respectively. The last cogs connect to another arrow labelled support clinical trials.

SPP-ARC Research is based on interlinked cores that facilitate rapid responses in a pandemic.

A Pipeline Approach
Pandemics are unpredictable and the time/nature of the next one is unknown. So, what can we do to prepare? SPP-ARC aims to create a home-grown pipeline for the development of vaccines and antiviral drugs against priority pathogens. The pipeline’s goal is the establishment of capabilities that enable rapid responses to emerging threats.
Research and Training
Pandemic preparedness requires ongoing, interdisciplinary research efforts and partnerships. SPP-ARC investigators cover a broad range of complementary expertise in the areas of virology, immunology, biochemistry, medicinal chemistry and structural biology. A comprehensive research program from discovery to manufacturing provides an ideal environment for the training of highly qualified personnel.
Enhancing Infrastructure
The establishment of a transformative structural biology core with a state-of-the-art Cryo-Electron Microscopy platform will support the design of vaccines and therapeutics. One of the largest Biosafety Level-3 (BSL-3) facilities in the country supports preclinical studies, and the ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ Cell Therapy Manufacturing facility (ACTM) will provide fill-finish production capabilities.

SPP-ARC EXPERTISE CORES 

In addition to supporting our researchers through funding of individual projects, our consortium includes several large-scale research groups that aim to build capacity in pandemic preparedness research and to complement existing projects and infrastructure.

There are 4 boxes. From left to right, the first one is labelled virology and the text under says prototypic and emerging live virus, pseudotyped virus, & replicon assays.The next box is labelled therapeutics and the text says the discovery and evaluation of antivirals, polymerase and protease inhibitors. The 3rd box is labelled vaccines and it's text says assessing and comparing vaccine platforms, vectors, &  immune responses. The final box says clinical samples and it's text says collecting clinical samples and transferring them to research labs

 

Molecular Virology Core


Core Lead: Tom Hobman

Team: Matthew Croxen, David Evans, Robert Ingham, Olivier Julien, Katharine Magor, David Marchant, Ryan Noyce, Vanessa Meier-Stephenson, Lorne Tyrrell

The goal of the Molecular Virology Core is to provide expertise and support for discovery, testing and validation of novel antiviral compounds and vaccine candidates at the ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥. The core’s principal investigators, their trainees, and research staff have extensive expertise in isolation and characterization of respiratory and vector-borne viruses as well as developing methods and assays to identify antiviral compounds and support testing of novel vaccines that inhibit replication of these pathogens. Respiratory viruses that are routinely studied by this group include coronaviruses, influenza viruses, pneumoviruses, picornaviruses and poxviruses.


Therapeutics Core


Core Lead: Matthias Götte

Team: Kalyan Das, Dennis Hall, Tom Hobman, Olivier Julien, John Klassen, Joanne Lemieux, Katharine Magor, David Marchant, Michael Meanwell, Vanessa Meier-Stephenson, Ryan Noyce, John Vederas, Frederick West

The therapeutic arm of SPP-ARC’s efforts in the coming years will focus on two principal targets; viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerases (RdRp) and proteases. The supported projects are designed to balance capacity building and innovation in the areas of enzymology, structure-based drug design, medicinal chemistry and analytical chemistry. Success with the proposed research will facilitate rapid responses to emerging viruses with the overarching goal to advance small molecule antivirals more rapidly into clinical trials.


Vaccine & Immune Responses Core


Core Lead: Troy Baldwin

Team: Xavier Clemente-Casares, Edan Foley, Kevin Kane, Matt Macauley, David Marchant, Ryan Noyce, Hanne Ostergaard, Maya Shmulevitz, Sue Tsai, Lorne Tyrrell, Harrisios Vliagoftis, Holger Wille, Stephanie Yanow

The Vaccine & Immune Responses Core is composed of a diverse group of experts in vaccinology, virology, immunology, glycan chemistry, protein biochemistry and machine learning. Together, these experts will create a variety of vaccine candidates and determine the effects of different vaccine platforms, antigens, adjuvants, and administration routes on specific aspects of immune responses, pathogen control, and possible adverse effects. This will be the first of its kind, side-by-side biological comparison of how distinct viral, nucleic acid and protein vaccine platforms delivering the same antigens and administered intranasally versus intramuscularly into healthy male and female mice affect vaccine efficacy. A wide spectrum of parameters will be measured including rarely- assessed changes to specific innate, humoral, and cellular immunity, formation of systemic and tissue resident long-term memory cell populations, a multitude of potential adverse pathologies in all organs, and most importantly pathogen control. We will concurrently establish assays for monitoring immune responses using preserved human samples to allow rapid transition to human applications. Collectively, this study will generate new knowledge regarding different vaccine approaches and increase capacity for development and testing of vaccines thereby preparing us to combat future pandemics.

Clinical Samples Core


Core Lead: Lorne Tyrrell

Team: Xavier Clementes-Casares, Matthew Croxen, Kalyan Das, Mathew Diggle, Matthias Götte, Olivier Julien, Katharine Magor, David Marchant, Vanessa Meier-Stephenson, Michael Mengel, Xiaoli Pang, Lawrence Richer, Bruce Ritchie, Michael Serpe, Graham Tipples, Karina Top, Greg Tyrrell

As coronaviruses and other respiratory viruses become endemic in our population, with new strains emerging in outbreaks and new pathogens evolving, establishing a workflow to access real-time samples sufficient to provide robust data and making such studies feasible to answer many scientific questions is a key component of pandemic preparedness. Having a system ahead of time will facilitate a rapid response in the setting of a pandemic or an outbreak. The Clinical Samples core will establish a framework to enable the collection, storage and sharing of biosamples and their derivatives, such as virus isolates, plasmids, etc., as well as the relevant clinical data.