FAPESP approves additional funding for research on zika virus

Additional funding of R$550,000 has been approved, and other proposals are being analyzed, says FAPESP's scientific director.

By Karina Toledo and Samuel Antenor  |  Agência FAPESP – In the last 25 years, FAPESP has funded 446 research grants and scholarships on subjects relating to Aedes aegypti and the diseases transmitted by the mosquito.

Seventy-six of these projects are ongoing, and 12 received additional funding in December 2015 to redirect part of their activities to search for solutions to emerging problems linked to the recent zika outbreak.

The addenda-approved amount totaled R$550,000. All of the projects are coordinated by researchers who belong to an initiative informally called the Zika Network and headed by Paolo Zanotto, a professor at the University of São Paulo’s Biomedical Science Institute (ICB-USP) in Brazil.

“Other projects are being analyzed, and there will certainly be an increase in the number of proposals we receive during the year on this subject, since researchers in São Paulo State aren’t unaware of what’s happening. Zika has become very important to Brazil and São Paulo,” said Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz, FAPESP’s scientific director.

In an interview given to Agência FAPESP, Brito Cruz stressed that the scientific capacity built up over decades through the projects funded by FAPESP, especially those linked to the Viral Genetic Diversity Network (VGDN) during the period 2000-2007, enabled the Zika Network to be set up rapidly.

“Thanks to this support, the VGDN was the driving force behind the creation of an important virus research infrastructure that has built up a knowledge base on viruses of the genus Flavivirus, which includes zika, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever,” Brito Cruz said. “The labs and teams continue to do their research, most of them with support from FAPESP. When the zika outbreak became apparent, the researchers in this network, who had been interacting for scientific reasons, got together and planned a joint effort. In mid-December, Prof. Zanotto submitted to FAPESP a proposal to set up an emergency network and requested supplementary funding for 12 ongoing research projects. We approved these addenda rapidly, in two or three days, considering the importance of the problem to be addressed.”

Highlights of the interview follow.

Agência FAPESP – How has FAPESP supported research relating to zika virus and its complications?
Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz – São Paulo State’s capacity to conduct scientific research, both basic and applied, on subjects linked to Aedes and the viruses it transmits derives from the effort and investment made in the past 20-30 years to educate and train researchers and from the creation of an infrastructure capable of treating this type of problem. Research capacity isn’t something you can create overnight. When an epidemic associated with a virus pops up, you can’t expect a researcher to be able to produce a significant response without ever having worked on the problem before. For example, we can talk about a tetravalent dengue vaccine today because in 2008 FAPESP funded a research project at Butantan Institute for this purpose. São Paulo has a history of supporting research that enabled the very rapid establishment in 2015 of a network dedicated to addressing several aspects of the science necessary to tackle the problem of zika virus. All the researchers who belong to the network have had projects supported by FAPESP in the past. Moreover, work began in 2000 to organize the Viral Genetic Diversity Network, VGDN, with the precise aim of studying and accumulating knowledge about various types of virus, including the viruses of the genus Flavivirus, to which zika, dengue and yellow fever belong. This is a field in which a certain amount of knowledge has to be built up for use when necessary. In addition to its support for researchers and other grantees, FAPESP has provided funding for several types of equipment and the installation of three biosafety level 3 (BSL3+) laboratories for research on viruses. This VGDN network was mobilized by Prof. Zanotto in a very skillful and timely manner in December 2015, when the importance of zika in Brazil came to the forefront of public awareness. There was already installed capacity at the University of São Paulo, USP, as well as the University of Campinas, UNICAMP, São Paulo State University, UNESP, Butantan Institute, the Adolfo Lutz and Emílio Ribas Institutes, hospitals, and the São José do Rio Preto Medical School, FAMERP. These researchers were able to redirect their attention and use the knowledge base acquired to address the problem as necessary and that’s what has indeed been happening.

Agência FAPESP – Is that what happened in the case of the extra funding granted to 12 ongoing projects?
Brito Cruz – Exactly. You’re referring to 12 projects that were already being funded, and the researchers realized they could redirect activities with a moderate amount of additional funding to discover relevant solutions to some of the problems that emerged with zika virus. Applications for additional funding were submitted to FAPESP in December and approved in two or three days. Approval was fast-tracked because we took the emergency into account, but of course the approval granted to these applications doesn’t mean other researchers in São Paulo State can’t submit new proposals on the same subject. FAPESP is one of the few research funding agencies in the world that accepts applications for funding at any time of year. At the same time, FAPESP’s budget is funded by taxpayers, so we have to be very strict in assessing the quality of the research we support, and this obligation is even more rigorously enforced when such an important public health problem is involved. Applications for additional funding can be approved rapidly because the projects concerned have already been analyzed and passed the requisite quality test.

Agência FAPESP – Of the 446 grants and scholarships awarded by FAPESP for research on Aedes, dengue and chikungunya, some 76 are in progress. What are these projects about?
Brito Cruz – Vaccines, serological techniques, mosquito control, cellular mechanisms in virology, and many other topics. Some of the projects deal with control of the vector and have produced important results, such as the use of transgenic mosquitoes. Startups are receiving support to develop biological insecticides, repellents and sensors for rapid serology. Of course, at the moment, there’s considerable interest in research efforts to try to elucidate the link between zika virus and microcephaly. This may be one of the most important elements right now. Reporting of microcephaly cases and their possible association with zika virus brought the problem to the attention of the general public in Brazil, and indeed worldwide, as can be seen from the news. Elucidating the link through science is a front-line priority and must be addressed. Another project that promises highly important results is the epidemiological study of dengue in the São José do Rio Preto region.

Agência FAPESP – Which of the completed projects would you highlight?
Brito Cruz – The tetravalent vaccine against dengue, which is no longer the subject of scientific research. It’s now in the clinical trial stage and is highly likely to pass the tests.

Agência FAPESP – What exactly is FAPESP’s relationship with the Zika Network?
Brito Cruz – Hitherto, FAPESP’s role has been to create the possibility for the network to exist, by funding the VGDN in 2000 and, in the last decade, funding each of the researchers who belong to the network, as well as providing scholarships for their groups. Also, FAPESP acknowledged and welcomed the idea and Zanotto’s application for additional funding to start establishing the network.

Agência FAPESP – Is the Zika Network confined to researchers in São Paulo or can it include partners from other states of Brazil or other countries?
Brito Cruz – They’re procuring these partnerships. Collaborations are very important, especially in this field, because most of the cases are in Pernambuco, Sergipe and Alagoas. It would be best if the researchers here in São Paulo collaborated with others in the Northeast region so as to have access to the case histories, patient details and biological material necessary for them to perform the analysis. As for partnerships with other countries, FAPESP has created a path for these to happen.

Agência FAPESP – How so?
Brito Cruz – We have an important research co-funding agreement with the US National Institutes of Health, NIH, whereby any researcher in São Paulo can partner with a US researcher, write a research proposal and apply for NIH funding. The NIH notifies us, and we analyze the proposal together. We have a similar agreement with the UK Medical Research Council and other research councils in the UK. These two paths are open. We also have a similar collaboration with the European Union. We can’t afford to wait for a crisis to happen before starting to set up this type of instrument. It would take at least a year.

Agência FAPESP – Have new research proposals focusing on zika virus been submitted?
Brito Cruz – Yes, new projects are being analyzed, and there will certainly be an increase in the number of proposals we receive on this subject during the coming year. Researchers in São Paulo are always wired to what’s happening and know the topic “zika virus” has become highly important to Brazil and São Paulo State.

Agência FAPESP – Will FAPESP point this research in any particular direction?
Brito Cruz – In this case, the direction is already being set by the researchers who belong to the network and by their institutions. FAPESP can contribute experience with running research networks and facilitate interactions with the state government’s health department as well as foreign organizations. The main challenge, especially in the case of combating zika virus, is making the link between knowledge and its application more agile. In addition, FAPESP is working with universities and other research institutions to help these researchers network so as to maximize the positive effect of interaction among them. It’s essential that the research findings, equipment and infrastructure be shared. FAPESP has done this before in other fields, such as bioenergy, biodiversity, genomics, climate change, and the VGDN itself. At present, we’re engaged in discussions with the researchers on items of the thematic agenda, identifying three or four problems to address first, and what should come next. We’ve held a meeting with the researcher pro-rectors of USP, UNICAMP and UNESP, as well as researchers and representatives of Butantan Institute, the Adolfo Lutz and Emílio Ribas Institutes, and FAMERP, which also have excellent research capabilities in areas relating to this problem.

Agência FAPESP – Research projects related to health receive approximately 30% of the funding awarded by FAPESP. What are the obstacles to the application of the results of these projects? Do they have to do with the type of research institution, the characteristics of the research project, or a political decision?
Brito Cruz – A huge part of the research results in the health area are used immediately, as the same people who conduct the research also coordinate patient care in hospitals, such as Hospital das Clínicas, HC, the big general hospital for the city of São Paulo, as well as USP’s own hospital, HU, UNICAMP’s teaching hospital, UNESP’s teaching hospital in Botucatu, and so on. They’re learning and providing enhanced medical care the very next day after they obtain results from their research, since this is one of the areas in which the connection between research findings and their application is particularly organic. This research intensity has contributed decisively to an improvement in the quality of healthcare in São Paulo, in both public and private hospitals. On a different front, to develop drugs and protocols, intermediation by government agencies and enterprises is fundamental, and researchers in São Paulo, their institutions and FAPESP are incessantly looking for opportunities.

Agência FAPESP – What can we expect in the years ahead in terms of the application of the results of all of this ongoing research?
Brito Cruz – The fact that the Zika Network includes research institutions linked to the São Paulo State Department of Health, such as Butantan Institute, for example, helps make the application of results more agile. It’s important to bear in mind that São Paulo State has a well-organized health system. The department is institutionally efficient: it has a good data collection system, effective information systems, and a data analysis platform that works very closely with research institutions. This creates an environment in which you can get results in less time. The challenge is daunting, but with research of excellent quality, persistence and prudence we’ll soon begin to see the first results.

Find out more about the projects supported by FAPESP in the Virtual Library.