Development of models of pathogenesis and vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 [Funder: Institutional Funding]

This project involves pre-clinical studies of candidate therapies and vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 that have the potential to be advanced into human trials if the data is promising. Considering the urgent need for both therapeutics and vaccines to help reduce the impact of this pandemic, there is a critical need to continue this work. This work expands on the recent direct isolation of SARS-CoV-2 in the CL3 facilities here from patient samples collected at Sunnybrook Hospital, in which I was centrally involved. Moreover, we have initiated several collaborations with groups here at University of Toronto who are pursuing pathogenesis studies or investigating potential treatments. By allowing our team to work, and leveraging the collaborative partnerships with other SARS-CoV-2 researchers on campus, we are able to reduce the number of researchers required to be on-campus and in CL3, which helps with social distancing. Critical personnel: Robert Kozak (PI), Chandrika Senthilkumaran (post-doc). Both individuals have had extensive training in high-containment laboratories prior to this. Dr. Senthilkumaran worked at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg in both CL3 and CL4 laboratories performing work that involved both in vitro experiments and animal studies. Additionally, she is a trained veterinarian with experience working with large and small animal models. She has begun the training process to work in the CL3 facility at the University of Toronto. Dr. Kozak also worked at the National Microbiology Laboratory in both CL3 and CL4 laboratories on a range of viral pathogens including MERSCoronavirus, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, and Ebola virus, performing both cell culture work and animal studies. Additionally, Dr. Kozak has commenced his training at the CL3 facility in Toronto. The proposed project will have three main objectives: 1) Evaluating monoclonal antibodies for therapeutic efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 in cell culture systems 2) Developing a mouse model of SARS-CoV-2 disease 3) Evaluate vaccines for protection against SARS-CoV-2 in a small animal model of disease