Cura Zika

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CURA ZIKA: AN INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE

CURAZIKA.PITT.EDU

The University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health is proud to launch Cura Zika, an international alliance to perform much-needed research addressing the Zika epidemic by uniting  Pitt biomedical scientists and their Brazilian collaborators.

Zika is a mosquito-borne and sexually transmitted virus which causes microcephaly in infants born to mothers infected with it. It is also associated with increased risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome and other neurological disorders in people who contract it. The virus is widespread in Southern and Central America and has a likelihood of gaining sustained transmission in the Southern U.S.

Cura Zika builds on Pitt Public Health’s long-standing collaboration with FIOCRUZ , the Brazilian Ministry of Health’s Fundação Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, the most prominent science and technology health institution in Latin America. Cura Zika—which means ‘Cure Zika’ in both Portuguese and Spanish—will provide quick access funding to scientists performing time-sensitive research on the virus. This support is designed to move early-stage innovative research ideas into larger studies in an accelerated manner.

An initial startup grant of $200,000 is being equally matched by funds from the Graduate School of Public Health and from the University of Pittsburgh schools of the health sciences. Already, an additional $800,000 in pledges has been received towards the alliance's efforts to fund research to stop the disease.

Cura Zika Symposium

If you missed the live event, you may still view the Cura Zika symposium video to get a look at some of the related research already underway at the University of Pittsburgh.

Cura Zika Pilot project presentations

Find out more about the research currently under way at this Pitt Public Health event: Cura Zika Pilot Research Grant Presentations.

Zika News

Pitt launches Cura Zika to provide fast cash to researchers

The University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health launched Cura Zika on Thursday, in collaboration with a Latin American Health organization, to provide fast funding to researchers working to treat and prevent the virus. …  

Pitt Researchers Partner With Brazilian Government On Zika Research

The University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health is stepping up its efforts to learn about the Zika virus, which has been linked to an epidemic of birth defects in Brazil and other parts of Latin America. … 

Pitt researchers form international alliance to combat Zika

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Potential federal funding delays in the fight against Zika have prompted scientists from the University of Pittsburgh to form an international alliance with their Brazil­ian counterparts as a way to speed up fundraising for research into the mosquito-borne virus.  Pitt's Graduate School of Public Health will formally launch “Cura Zika,” which means “Cure Zika” in Portuguese and Spanish, on May 5 in conjunction with FIOCRUZ, a science and ... 

Doctor returns to Pittsburgh after trip To Brazil to study Zika virus

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Ernesto Marques at the Pitt Center for Vaccine Research  recently traveled to Brazil  to study  Zika virus . In that time, the CDC announced a definitive relationship between Zika and microcephaly based on the timing, the virus in fluids and tissues, antibodies against the virus in the brains of these babies with small heads, and studies of cases and non-cases.   See full story  

Pitt researcher heads to Brazil to study Zika virus

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Brazil is at the center of concern over the Zika virus and a researcher from this area is starting his work there today. From the Pitt Center for Vaccine Research to Brazil, Dr. Ernesto Marques is making an important trip.  “The health authorities were expecting in 2015 either a dengue or chikungunya outbreak, and something else came up, with very unexpected consequences that at the beginning, no one imagined that was a ... 

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SUPPORT CURA ZIKA

Help address the Zika epidemic by providing critical, quick-access funding to scientists with innovative, early-stage research ideas.

Click to donate online, or contact David Tye at 412-624-3608 or dat100@pitt.edu.

Zika News

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Zika and travel: Marques tells you what you need to know 

Zika and travel: Marques tells you what you need to know

THE NEW YORK TIMES - The virus has been out of the headlines, but that doesn't mean it is gone. The World Health Organization just updated guideines for travelling to the Zika zone. "Summer in the north is winter in the south and vice versa, so you have to consider that," said IDM's Ernesto Marques... (07/10/2019)
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The Zika virus is still a threat. Here's what Marques, other experts know 

The Zika virus is still a threat. Here's what Marques, other experts know

THE NEW YORK TIMES - Remember Zika? With measles and Ebola grabbing headlines, it is easy to forget the health panic of 2016, when Zika was linked to severe birth defects in thousands of Brazilian newborns whose mothers were infected while pregnant, striking fear across the country and much of the ... (07/03/2019)
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Marques finds that previous exposure to Dengue Fever protects against Zika 

Marques finds that previous exposure to Dengue Fever protects against Zika

90.5 WESA - Pitt researchers have found that previous exposure to Dengue Fever lowers the risk of infection from the Zika virus. “If we use currently approved Dengue vaccines or vaccines that are already close to become approved, you could boost Dengue responses... and could provide some degree of ... (03/07/2019)

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Questions?

Send questions about the Cura Zika initiative, an international alliance to perform much-needed research addressing the Zika epidemic, to CuraZika@pitt.edu.

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Media Contact

Allison Hydzik,
manager of media relations 
hydzikam@upmc.edu 
412-647-9975

Cura Zika Advisory Board

Program director
Donald Burke

Scientific director
Ernesto T. A. Marques

Scientific advisors 
Fernando Bozza   
Lee Harrison 
Cecilia Lo 
Celina Martelli 
Yoel Sadovsky