Understanding chronic wasting disease and its risk to people and other animals
Official title: Comprehensive Phenotypic Profiling of Chronic Wasting Disease to Assess Transmissibility and Species Barriers
Funded at Mc Laughlin Research Institute · NIH-11350898 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Scientists will use specially engineered mice to learn how chronic wasting disease develops and whether it could jump from deer to people.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Mc Laughlin Research Institute NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Great Falls, United States) |
| Project start | January 1, 2024 |
| Project end | December 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $317,633 |
| NIH project number | 5P20GM152335-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11350898 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
This project does not enroll human participants; it relies on laboratory and mouse model work, so there are no patients to join.
✕Less likely to help
People already diagnosed with prion diseases or those seeking immediate treatment should not expect direct clinical benefit from this basic research project.
What this research studies
From a patient's perspective, this project uses mouse models that carry deer-related genes and mice engineered with the human prion gene to mirror how chronic wasting disease (CWD) behaves. Researchers will perform detailed behavior tests, follow clinical biomarkers in blood and tissues, and examine peripheral organs to map disease progression and identify early signs. The work aims to define new strain information and potential early diagnostic clues that could help control spread in wildlife and inform future human safety measures. The team will also test whether CWD can infect mice with human prion genes to better understand any real risk to people.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this research could improve early detection in animals and clarify whether CWD poses a real infection risk to people, guiding public-health advice and future prevention strategies.
How similar studies have gone: Prior prion studies using animal models have helped clarify disease mechanisms and strains, but whether CWD can infect humans remains unresolved, so this work builds on established methods to answer that question.
Where this research is happening
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Mc Laughlin Research Institute
Great Falls, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Panter, Andrea Lee — Mc Laughlin Research Institute
- Study coordinator: Panter, Andrea Lee
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.