Priscila Da Silva Castanha, PhD, assistant professor of infectious diseases and microbiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, has received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) award to study Oropouche virus, a growing infectious disease threat.
The two-year project, “Defining Human Skin Immunity to Culicoides Probing and Oropouche Virus Infection,” is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases through an NIH R21 award. Additional collaborators include Stacey Scroggs, PhD, research microbiologist, and Bethany McGregor, PhD, research entomologist, both with the Arthropod-borne Animal Diseases Research Unit at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The project is supported by a $393,000 award.
Oropouche virus is spread by biting midges, tiny fly-like insects that can transmit disease. Recent increases in infections, geographic spread and reports of more severe illness have highlighted the need for a better understanding of how the virus is transmitted and how it causes disease.
Da Silva Castanha and her collaborators will study what happens in human skin during the earliest stages of infection, including how bites from midges—the primary carriers of Oropouche virus—affect immune responses and influence the virus's ability to spread.
The findings are expected to advance scientific understanding of Oropouche virus transmission and could help inform future interventions aimed at preventing and treating disease caused by the virus.
-Clare Collins