MSI PI Kimberly VanderWaal (associate professor, Veterinary and Population Medicine) is leading a team that has been awarded a $800,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to study various of a swine virus, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus-type 2 (PRRSV-2). MSI PI Maxim Cheeran (associate dean, College of Veterinary Medicine; Veterinary and Population Medicine) is also a member of the research group. The researchers will create a platform that uses machine-learning tools to determine the ability of PRRSV-2 variants to provoke an immune response in swine and to spread across farms. A story about this project appears on the College of Veterinary Medicine website: CVM researchers awarded $800,000 USDA grant to create integrative data platform for major swine disease.
Professor VanderWaal uses MSI for as part of research that integrates methods and tools from multiple disciplines to study pathogen transmission dynamics. Professor Cheeran is currently using MSI for three projects related to central nervous system responses to injury and infection.