17 October 2005
Experts from the Medical Research Council - the United Kingdom’s principal publicly-funded biomedical research organisation – are to travel to south-east Asia to look at ways scientists around the world can work together better to tackle emerging infections, especially avian influenza.
The MRC is in a position to make a significant contribution because of our long-standing investment in flu, not least with the discovery of the flu virus by MRC scientists in 1933.
The missions into infections with epidemic or pandemic potential will inform an international conference being hosted by the MRC in London in December.
On Monday 17th October, at 2pm, a panel of senior MRC scientists will announce the missions. The panel includes:
- Professor Colin Blakemore (Chief Executive, Medical Research Council)
- Sir John Skehel (Director, MRC National Institute for Medical Research)
- Dr Alan Hay (Director, World Influenza Centre)
- Dr Peter Dukes (MRC Research Management Group)
- Professor Anne Johnson (Deputy Chair, MRC Infections and Immunity Board)
They will be happy to answer questions about influenza.
Initiatives:
- Scientists from the Medical Research Council will visit south east Asia (23rd October – 4th November) to promote collaboration on infections (including influenza, SARS and HIV), cancer, biotechnology and neurosciences.
- In December (7th and 8th), scientists, policy-makers and industrialists from around the world will gather in London to discuss the biology of influenza, what makes it pass easily to people, how people get sick and what vaccines and drugs are being developed to prevent and control the spread of viruses.
- Research is best carried out through co-operation. The excellence of research programmes in south-east Asia and the UK provides a solid foundation on which to build collaborative research between leading scientists around the world.
More information:
From time to time, new strains of viruses emerge that are highly dangerous to the people who are infected. Scientists from the United Kingdom and south east Asia are now building on the success of the joint work carried out on emerging infections, especially SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). The Medical Research CouncilMRC is now working to develop its close links in the region.
The Medical Research Council recognises that emerging infectious diseases pose a significant threat to the people of south-east Asia in the form of a potential flu outbreak, and the SARS virus. The scale and extent of modern travel and population movement means we all need to be ready to work together to stop diseases spreading.
In visiting China, North Vietnam and Hong Kong, our scientists are looking at identifying practical opportunities for extending research collaboration – supporting very high quality science in the region. By working together, the MRC believes that translating research into benefits for the public and patients will be accelerated. They are looking at sharing ideas to strengthen research capacity, to find innovative ways to carry out all areas of research, including clinical research, population-based research and basic research.
The Medical Research Council, which has strong links with the UK’s Health Protection Agency, other Research Councils and Health Departments, is committed to making whatever research contribution it can to support the Government and ensure the country is prepared for a flu pandemic.
Notes to editors:
1. 1. Places at the News Conference will be limited. Please inform the MRC press office if you or a representative would like to attend. Contact the MRC press office on 020 7637 6011 or out of hours on 07818 428297.
2. 2. It is envisaged that the first day of the December conference would concentrate on the threat posed by ‘flu, how the viruses work and the natural history of the disease. The second day focuses on dealing with an outbreak, asks how prepared the world is, and what more can be done now to minimise the risk of a pandemic.
The conference will focus on the following research themes:
- Prevention
- Preparedness
- Response
3. The outcome of the meeting will feed into further review; short, medium and long term planning.
4. Ahead of the December conference, a number of scientists (including John Skehel, Andrew McMichael, Anne Johnson and Xiao-Ning Xu) will visit China, Vietnam and Hong Kong between October 23 and October 31 to assess the potential for collaboration on emerging infectious diseases – particularly ‘flu. Colin Blakemore will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chinese Academy of Sciences which includes a clause on emerging infections.
5. The MRC’s principal investment in influenza research is at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) in north London.
6. Sir John Skehel’s programme focuses on the structural and functional characteristics of the virus surface that enable it to infect cells; and on the mechanism by which anti-haemagglutinin antibodies neutralise viral infectivity. His team recently explained how the haemagglutinin (HA) of the 1918 virus both retained receptor binding site amino acids characteristic of an avian precursor HA, and was able to bind to human receptors and how, as a consequence, the virus was able to spread in the human population.
7. Dr Alan Hay leads the World Influenza Centre at the NIMR, monitoring molecular changes in the virus that have significance for human health and protection as those changes occur: this work makes an important contribution to public health internationally. Dr Hay works closely with the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and World Health Organisation (WHO) Centres in the USA, Japan and Australia. He also has basic research programme on the structural basis for key features of channel activity and their relationship to proteins vital to virus replication.
8. The first World Health Organisation “World Influenza Centre” in 1947 was established at MRC’s National Institute for Medical Research to identify and characterise emerging new strains of flu. There are now four such centres which have a crucial role in informing the WHO on the composition of vaccines which need to be changed regularly, often more than once a year, to reflect the strains in circulation. Alongside that surveillance, the MRC carries out basic research on the molecular mechanisms that determine what makes one flu virus strain more or less deadly than another.
9. Crucial research questions: Some are urgent now; others can be addressed only over a longer time-scale. Others can be addressed only at the moment a serious outbreak occurs. Some of the questions being posed include: What is the current risk posed by avian flu to the human population? How robust are the data and systems on which risks are being estimated? What makes people infected with H5N1 influenza seriously ill and die? Current vaccines for seasonal flu are strain specific. There are few effective drugs, and resistance is a threat. What characteristics do vaccines and drugs need to achieve effective prevention and control?
10. The Medical Research Council (MRC) is a national organisation funded by the UK tax-payer. Its business is medical research aimed at improving human health; everyone stands to benefit from the outputs. The research it supports and the scientists it trains meet the needs of the health services, the pharmaceutical and other health-related industries and the academic world. MRC has funded work which has led to some of the most significant discoveries and achievements in medicine in the UK. About half of the MRC’s expenditure of approximately £500 million is invested in its 40 Institutes, Units and Centres. The remaining half goes in the form of grant support and training awards to individuals and teams in universities and medical schools.
