Mission

The Great Lakes RCE (GLRCE) is a consortium of academic and research institutions in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin and is administered by its Administrative Core at the University of Chicago. A complete list of GLRCE institutions and their locations is available on the institutions page.

The GLRCE is committed to funding development of new vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics to counteract diseases caused by bio-threat agents via the combined research excellence of inter-disciplinary scientists in the Great Lakes region. The main foci of our research are top priority NIAID Category A agents – Bacillus anthracis, Francisella turalensis ,Yersinia pestis, Clostridium botulinum neurotoxins, Variola major, and Ebola or Marburg Virus (hemorrhagic fever viruses). However, important work on NIAID Category B and C agents, i.e. Brucella melitensis, Toxoplasma gondii, Salmonella spp., or Rickettsia spp. is also considered for funding.

To achieve its goals, the GLRCE promotes collaboration and state of the art technologies, as well as interactions with the pharmaceutical industry to allow rapid translation of basic research findings to commercial products. Current emphasis in the Great Lakes RCE includes new vaccines to prevent plague and botulism, and new drug therapies for anthrax, hemorrhagic fever viruses and pox viruses. Basic research into the effectiveness of new vaccines and adjuvants as well as diagnostic tools for the category A agents are also high priority research goals.

Future Plans

The GLRCE will focus future efforts on facilitating product development for new vaccines and drugs against Category A agents. These efforts will include regular interactions with industry for the development of new collaborations that improve translation of GLRCE research into products. We will continue to build on the infrastructure established thus far to improve collaborative science and to improve the utility and use of core resources of the RCE network. We will endeavor to sustain the highest quality of research in biodefense through interactive collaborations between GLRCE leadership, researchers adn the NIAID and to ensure access to state of the art technologies so that research can progress rapidly.