SPP-ARC
Striving for Pandemic Preparedness —
The Alberta Research Consortium
The concept behind the logo is the destruction of a virus by a spark representing effective vaccines and antiviral drugs.
Striving for Pandemic Preparedness
Enabling rapid responses to emerging pathogens
The University of Alberta has made substantial investments to support research and training in infectious diseases. The available resources have been instrumental in Alberta's scientific response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In spite of progress, it is evident that our preparedness for the next pandemic needs to be improved. The Government of Alberta awarded the University of Alberta a $55.1 M grant to develop a pandemic preparedness program. With this grant, scientists at the University of Alberta are building capacity in this area and founded SPP-ARC: Striving for Pandemic Preparedness – The Alberta Research Consortium.MISSION
Prepare for Pandemics
Establish capabilities to discover, develop and assess vaccines and antivirals for better protection against emerging pathogens
VISION
Enable Rapid Responses
Support clinical trials and the approval of effective medical countermeasures in the next pandemic
SPP-ARC Research is based on interlinked cores that facilitate rapid responses in a pandemic
A Pipeline Approach
Nobody can predict the time and/or nature of the next pandemic. So what can we do to prepare for the worst? SPP-ARC aims to create a home-grown pipeline for the development of vaccines and antiviral drugs against priority pathogens, such as coronaviruses and influenza viruses. The goal is to establish capabilities that enable rapid responses to emerging threats.Research and Training
Pandemic preparedness requires ongoing, interdisciplinary research efforts and partnerships. SPP-ARC investigators cover a broad range of complementary expertise in the areas of virology, immunology, biochemistry, medicinal chemistry and structural biology. A comprehensive research program from discovery to manufacturing provides an ideal environment for the training of highly qualified personnel (HQP).Enhancing Infrastructure
The establishment of a transformative structural biology core with a state-of-the-art Cryo-Electron Microscopy platform will support the design of vaccines and therapeutics. One of the largest Biosafety Level-3 (BSL-3) facilities in the country supports preclinical studies, and the Alberta Cell Therapy Manufacturing facility (ACTM) will provide fill-finish production capabilities.SPP-ARC Events
Visit our Events page to hear about our upcoming scientific meetings, seminars, and retreats!
IN THE NEWS
- Researchers devise a quicker, more efficient way to make life-saving molecules
- Recent retreat moves U of A-based pandemic preparedness consortium one step closer to being the first line of defence in the next global outbreak.
- New Canada Excellence Research Chair in Antiviral Drug Design builds on U of A’s leadership in pandemic preparedness research
- Boosting vaccine development in Alberta
- New provincial research funding for U of A aims to create made-in-Alberta vaccine and drug development pipeline
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
- Assessment of optimized FRET substrates as universal corona- and picornavirus main protease substrates for screening assays
- An enantioselective and modular platform for C4ʹ-modified nucleoside analogue synthesis enabled by intramolecular trans-acetalizations
- A structural comparison of oral SARS-CoV-2 drug candidate ibuzatrelvir complexed with the main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV
- Rational design of structure-based vaccines targeting misfolded alpha-synuclein conformers of Parkinson’s disease and related disorders
- Vaccination with structurally adapted fungal protein fibrils induces immunity to Parkinson’s disease.
- Mechanism and spectrum of inhibition of a 4´-cyano modified nucleotide analog against diverse RNA polymerases of prototypic respiratory RNA viruses
- Structure-Based Discovery of Allosteric Inhibitors Targeting a New Druggable Site in the Respiratory Syncytial Virus Polymerase