Posted on June 10: McMaster’s Mark Loeb leads national SARS research team

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/loebmarkDN.jpg” caption=”Mark Loeb”]

McMaster's Mark Loeb is on the front lines, working with researchers at McMaster and around the globe, in the battle to control and overcome Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

Loeb, an assistant professor of pathology and molecular medicine and an expert on infectious diseases, leads a team of researchers that will improve our understanding of the diagnosis, clinical course, epidemiology and immunopathogenesis of SARS.

His studies are part of a new $1.7-million research strategy announced today by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). This strategy is designed to address the causes and control of SARS.

Three other funded teams will carry out research leading to the development of a vaccine for SARS, examine methods to monitor infection and host response to the SARS virus, and pursue a rapid diagnostic test for SARS.

“These teams will help us answer some very important questions to be applied by the health care system to enhance protection of Canadians from SARS,” said Bhagirath Singh, scientific director of CIHR's Institute of Infection and Immunity and professor of microbiology and immunology at The University of Western Ontario. “It exemplifies CIHR's comprehensive, problem-based approach to health research.”

“The outbreak of SARS in China, Canada and many other countries has served to highlight the willingness of the Canadian health research community to work effectively together,” said Alan Bernstein, president of CIHR. “The research projects we are announcing today will support the best research into important issues around SARS including modes of transmission and the development of diagnostic tests, therapies and vaccines against SARS.”

Loeb sees his involvement in national and international health crises as all a part of doing his job. He regularly finds himself in the spotlight as an infectious diseases consultant.

The four research teams represent a funding partnership involving CIHR's Institute of Infection and Immunity, the Ontario Research and Development Challenge Fund, the Canadian Network for Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics (CANVAC), Health Canada, and Le Fonds de la recherche en santi du Quibec (FRSQ).

Visit CIHR online for the press release and partner backgrounders.

Loeb will be speaking at the McMaster Alumni Association's first
Albert Lager event this fall on Sept. 17 from 7-9 p.m. For more information visit the McMaster Alumni Association online.