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Cohen Announces $8 Million Federal Contract to Help St. Jude Prevent Flu Outbreaks

April 24, 2014

[MEMPHIS, TN] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today announced that St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in downtown Memphis has been awarded an $8 million, seven-year contract with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), which is part of the National Institutes of Health. The funding provided through this contract will support the Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance (CEIRS) at St. Jude, one of only 5 such centers in the nation.

“This funding will help one of Memphis’ own world-class health care institutions, St. Jude, conduct important work that could prevent flu outbreaks and save lives around the globe,” said Congressman Cohen.

Even today, flu infections are still a leading cause of illness and death around the world. During an average flu season in the United States, the virus is linked to approximately 36,000 deaths and 114,000 hospitalizations. The funding provided through this contract will help St. Jude support an international flu surveillance network focused on wild birds and domestic animals. Birds serve as the world’s reservoir of flu viruses and the source of new pandemic viruses. St. Jude researchers will focus on understanding how certain avian flu viruses jump from infecting birds to infecting humans and other mammals, while others do not.

“Recent years have brought an unprecedented number of human infections from these animal flu viruses, including H1N1, H7N9 and H5N1. Programs like CEIRS will help us make the breakthroughs needed to stop or prevent future outbreaks,” said Richard Webby, Ph.D., a member of the St. Jude Department of Infectious Diseases and St. Jude CEIRS principal investigator.

Congressman Cohen has long fought to protect and increase funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which oversees the NIAID. He has spoken out on the Floor of the U.S. House of Representatives blasting sequestration’s $1 billion in crippling cuts to the agency’s research programs, which could one day lead to cures for diseases that plague people around the globe. He has also proposed legislation to restore that funding with money from the Department of Defense budget that Pentagon leaders admit they don’t need.

The NIAID conducts and supports research to better understand, treat, and ultimately prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases. For more than 60 years, NIAID research has led to new therapies, vaccines, diagnostic tests, and other technologies that have improved the health of millions of people in the United States and around the world. CEIRS is a federally funded collaboration that brings together researchers to advance understanding and response to influenza, particularly pandemic flu strains that pose a global health threat.

Founded in 1962, St. Jude is one of the world’s leading children’s cancer research hospitals and is focused on finding cures for and saving children from cancer and other life-threatening diseases.