Treating CNS infections: An NIH/DoD workshop on strategies for crossing the blood-brain barrier

Dear All:

Sponsored by NIH (NIAID, NINDS, NHLBI, NCATS) and DoD (DTRA), a 2-day workshop on CNS infections and ways to penetrate the blood-brain barrier has just been announced for 21-22 Aug 2018. Full details are found online at http://www.cvent.com/d/wgq9j7.

The preliminary agenda online looks fascinating and shows planned discussions of viral encephalitis (e.g., West Nile), bacterial meningitis (e.g., Listeria, S. pneumoniae), fungal infections (e.g., C. neoformans), and parasitic infections (e.g., malaria). See below my signature for a few more details on the meeting. We don’t often see antibacterial agents developed for CNS infections, but it could represent an interesting niche for study.

For those with fungal interests, see as well the list of upcoming meetings at the end of this email where I’ve now added details for the 2018 Mycoses Study Group (MSGERC) meeting. 

Finally, please watch in parallel for an email requesting your consent to keep you on this email list. The new EU GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) comes into effect on 25 May 2018 and I want to be sure I have your consent by then.

All best wishes, –jr

John H. Rex, MD | Chief Medical Officer, F2G Ltd. | Expert-in-Residence, Wellcome Trust. Follow me on Twitter: @JohnRex_NewAbx. See past newsletters and subscribe for the future: http://amr.solutions/blog/

Objectives of the 21-22 Aug 2018 NIH- and DoD-sponsored meeting:
Infections of the human brain can be caused by various agents – viruses, bacteria, fungi, and, on occasion, protozoa or parasites. A major impediment to development of effective therapeutics to treat the resultant neurological diseases is delivery of the drugs at sufficient doses into the brain, the site of action, due to the presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Understanding the impact of infectious diseases on the physiological and pathophysiological function of the BBB will help advance knowledge and aid in accelerating the translational research and development of therapeutics targeting infections in the brain.

This two-day workshop will bring together scientists and technologists across multiple-disciplines for the following objectives:

  • To understand the basic biology of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and the role of the BBB in infectious disease pathogenesis
  • To understand the novel and state-of-the-art research and development tools and systems available for use
  • To review current therapeutic strategies and challenges in developing therapeutics that cross the BBB to target infectious diseases
  • To forge public and private collaboration on research and product development

Upcoming meetings of interest to the AMR community:

Share

How the sausage is made: A day of advocacy for PASTEUR

Dear All, Along with more than 50 others, I spent Tuesday 12 Sep 2023 on Capitol Hill visiting offices of members of Congress (Senate and House) seeking support for the PASTEUR Act. If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that we now have substantial bipartisan support for PASTEUR: it was re-introduced as The Pioneering Antimicrobial

Canada says, “Let’s pull together!” in a major new report

Dear All (and with thanks to Kevin for co-authoring): Yesterday saw the release of a major new report on Pull incentives from Canada! The report’s cover art eloquently summarizes its key message: Well said … and proves that a picture really is worth 1,000 words! Here are the links you’ll need: The report’s webpage at the

€100m HERA Invest fund; Sign to support PASTEUR; Superb AMR movie!

Dear All,  Expanding the available Push funding, the EU’s HERA (Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority) has created HERA Invest by allocating €100m in support early and late phases of clinical trials. HERA Invest is open on a rolling application basis to EU-based SMEs developing medical countermeasures that address one of the following cross-border health threats: (i)

Scroll to Top