Global health R&D at work in Vermont
Researchers at the University of Vermont (UVM) College of Medicine are working to develop a broad-spectrum antiviral drug that could be used to combat several different families of RNA viruses, including coronaviruses like COVID-19, arenaviruses like Lassa fever, and filoviruses like Ebola and Marburg. The UVM team discovered a human protein that is irrelevant to human health but plays a key role in how RNA viruses take hold in the body. By screening existing drug compounds with artificial intelligence technology, researchers hope to identify compounds that target the specific protein, which would then serve as the basis for further drug development. Broad-spectrum antivirals are urgently needed. While treatments exist for COVID-19 and Ebola Zaire, we still lack therapies for most of the other diseases caused by RNA viruses.