LSUHSC Precision Medicine Laboratory Announces $4 Million Award
The LSUHSC Precision Medicine Laboratory, a collaborative endeavor between the Departments of Genetics and Pathology involving Drs. Judy Crabtree, Lucio Miele, and Gordon Love, recently announced that the laboratory has received a $4 million award to be shared and in partnership with Louisiana-based startup Bioinformatics Experts, through Project NextGen, a national high-priority investment to develop the next generation of coronavirus vaccines and therapeutics. The Precision Medicine Laboratory/Bioinformatics Experts team will serve as the central SARS-CoV-2 sequencing center in the BARDA NextGen initiative.
BARDA, which stands for Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, is a federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services that specializes in supporting advanced research on countermeasures against bioterrorism, epidemic and pandemic infectious threats, and emerging diseases. BARDA frequently partners with industry to accelerate the development of diagnostics and therapeutics for diseases that are high-priority national threats.
“The LSUHSC Precision Medicine Laboratory, is a state-of-the-art CLIA-certified facility that has played a key role in SARS-COV-2 viral surveillance over the past three years. This award will allow us to participate in a pivotal national initiative. The laboratory is poised to bring in-house cutting-edge genomics technology to LSUHSC and Louisiana clinicians in several spaces, including not only infectious diseases but also oncology, pediatrics, and neurology,” said LSUHSC Assistant Dean for Translational Science Lucio Miele, MD, PhD.