Suresh Kuchipudi, PhD, MVSc, MBA, professor and chair, Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology has been awarded three new grants.
Suresh Kuchipudi, PhD, MVSc, MBA, professor and chair, Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, is leading studies to understand the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 funded by three U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grants totaling $2.7 million.
Kuchipudi is principal investigator for two grants totaling $1.3 million to evaluate the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from deer to cattle and pigs and to develop novel molecular methods to detect the virus in agricultural animals under field conditions.
In addition, he is a coprincipal investigator for a $4.5 million project administered by Pennsylvania State University to model the circulation and evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in 58 species of wildlife. Species to be studied include chipmunks, gray squirrels, raccoons, coyotes, white-footed mice, moose, wolverines, three species of deer and several species of bats.
The project, for which Pitt will receive $1.4 million, will test for SARS-CoV-2 infection and circulation in these animals, with the goal of monitoring for potential transmission to humans.
“It is essential to monitor and better understand the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 for safeguarding animal and human health,” says Kuchipudi, explaining that SARS-CoV-2 continues to develop new variants in both animals and humans since the COVID-19 pandemic began. “We know that SARS-CoV-2 is currently circulating in some U.S. wildlife, which also poses a risk of transmission to humans and agricultural animals that would threaten public health and our food supply.”
-Michele Baum