Manipal Centre for Virus Research (MCVR), a research department of Manipal University, has received the Research Cooperative Agreement Grant worth US$ 1.143 million from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), United State Department of Health and Human Services through the Coordinating Office of Global Health (GH) for a period of five years.
A release from Manipal University stated on 21st August, 2013 that the first year grant would be of amount US $250,000 and would provide prospects for improved international research collaborations and additional funding. The grant will also provide financial aid and technical support.
The grant was awarded for the application submitted by Dr G Arunkumar, professor and head, MCVR and Dr TMA Pai, endowed chair in Translational Virology for the project “Hospital Based Surveillance of Acute Febrile Illness in Western Ghat Region of India” for detecting etiologies of emerging infectious disease in the Western Ghats region of Karnataka and Kerala.
Speaking on this occasion, Dr H Vinod Bhat, pro-vice chancellor, Manipal University, said, “The grant from CDC is a landmark achievement for Manipal University in its research endeavours. The National Institute of Virology, Pune and the National Centre for Disease Control, Delhi, both under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India are the only other previous recipients of such a grant from CDC. Manipal University has been growing from strength to strength in recent years and has invested significantly in research projects across diverse disciplines. The faculty and students have access to world class infrastructure and technical guidance to develop their research ideas and innovations.”
