Last month the province of Manitoba announced it would commit $100,000 a year for three years toward collaborative research with Israel on HIV/AIDS, influenza and swine flu. The research will be conducted by scientists in Manitoba and Jerusalem under the Global Research Exchange Program, a project initiated by Canadian Friends of Hebrew University.
This recent commitment brings the total funding of the GREP to $1.1 million. That includes a $100,000 grant from the Winnipeg Foundation, and funds contributed by Hebrew University.
According to an article in the Canadian Jewish News, Winnipeg researcher Dr. Frank Plummer, who heads a scientific team at Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory and the University of Manitoba, will collaborate with Dr. Ofer Mandelboim and his team at Hebrew U’s Institute of Medical Research – Israel Canada.
Dr. Mandelboim and his team offer expertise in a branch of immunology dealing with natural killer cells which defend against viruses and bacteria. Dr. Plummer’s team has experience with HIV/AIDS. “The merging of the two teams makes a lot of sense scientifically and will aid in filling important gaps in our knowledge base of how specific areas of the immune system function in the context of HIV infection,” said Dr. Adrienne Meyers, senior research coordinator for the joint collaboration.
The two teams have selected for specific projects:
- natural killer cells and host genetics
- how natural killer cells recognize the HIV virus
- how natural killer cells interact with other components of the immune system in mediating resistance to HIV infection
- the role of natural killer cells during influenza infections, including swine flu
