Research Projects

Despite advancements in medicine and technology, infectious diseases like Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and SARS-CoV-2 continue to cause millions of cases and deaths. Factors such as poor immunogenicity, short-lived protection, and lack of optimal immune cell modulation contribute to the severity of these diseases. Therefore, it is crucial to develop platforms for testing safe drugs and vaccines to address global health emergencies. The existing small-scale BSL3 facility at CCMB has been used to combat the current pandemic by setting up diagnostic facilities, virus cultures, drug screening platforms, device testing, and antibody-based therapeutics. The proposed facility will focus on SARS-CoV-2 research and development using small animal models like mice, rats, and hamsters. This will enable the identification of novel host/bacterial factors involved in pathogenesis, screening small molecules for anti-TB therapeutic leads, investigating strategies for host-directed therapy, and discovering novel antibiotic resistance mechanisms. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to upscale research capabilities to handle current and emerging pathogens. Animal models of infections for these pathogens will enable basic and translational research, identify novel diagnostics and vaccines, and therapeutic approaches against these deadly infections. Two research institutes, a medical college, a hospital, and an industry will collaborate to establish an ABSL3 facility at the CCMB-CRF campus to investigate Mtb, SARS-CoV2, pathogenic AMR, and unknown emerging pathogens comprehensively. Comprehensive maintenance of the facility will be provided for the first five years, with organizations exploring funding and other mechanisms for comprehensive maintenance.