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News Release
BOISE STATE NEWS RELEASE / November 14, 2007
President Bush Signs Law Authorizing Boise State Research on
West Nile Virus
With the stroke of a pen, a group of Boise State University researchers
received $940,000 in federal funding for West Nile virus vaccine research
this week.
President Bush signed legislation, shepherded through Congress by U.S. Rep.
Bill Sali and U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, authorizing the research program on
Tuesday. The interdisciplinary team of researchers, led by Ken Cornell in
Boise State’s Department of Chemistry, will work with the U.S. Department of
Defense to finalize details and move forward with the research.
“This is the kind of meaningful work that researchers yearn for,” Cornell
said. “We could literally save lives in this community and there’s nothing
more fulfilling for a scientist. But this funding also allows Boise State to
build its research infrastructure, which allows us to do more great work and
raise the profile of the university. By leveraging funding like this with
collaborative interdisciplinary research that has impact in the community,
we truly are becoming the metropolitan research university of distinction
everyone talks about.”
Cornell will work with biology professors Juliet Tinker, Denise Wingett and
Gongxin Yu on the research. He said that once Boise State demonstrates
efficacy in its work for a West Nile vaccine, more research work on viral
vaccines could come the university’s way.
Sali spearheaded the funding’s legislative push as part of a House-Senate
agreement on H.R. 3222, the 2008 Department of Defense appropriations bill.
“West Nile virus is a problem that has really hit home in Idaho,” Sali said
in a press release about the legislation. “I’m glad so many other members of
Congress now agree with me that this important additional research is needed
to save lives.”
Boise State University’s cutting-edge research will enable the university to
combine recent advances in biotechnology with emergent nanotechnologies.
That combination should allow Boise State researchers to come up with a safe
and effective vaccine to prevent West Nile in humans.
Last year, 38 Idaho counties reported cases of West Nile in horses, birds,
mosquitoes or in people. About 1,000 people were affected and 23 people died
from the virus. This year, at least one death in Idaho has been blamed on
West Nile.
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Media Contact: Mike Journee, University Communications, (208)
426-1517,
mikejournee@boisestate.edu
For the 10th time in the last 11 years, Boise State University has set an
all-time record for Idaho higher education institutions with an enrollment
of 19,540 – an overall increase of 3.5 percent. A record freshman class of
2,280 students is also the most academically talented group ever to enter
Boise State, including 12 National Merit finalists.
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Last reviewed on
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
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