Rhode Island’s top political brass visited iCubed on Monday to recognize Dr. Alan Rothman and his colleagues on their recent award of $11.4 million from the National Institutes of Health. Senators Sheldon White and Jack Reed joined Congressmen David Cicilline and Jim Langevin in congratulating Dr. Rothman who will dedicate the funding to ongoing research on dengue virus, a potentially deadly mosquito-borne disease. The multi-faceted project is titled “Flavivirus Infections: Pathogenesis and Prevention.

Rothman is the head of iCubed’s Laboratory of Viral Immunity and Pathogenesis. He has been involved in research on immunity and pathogenesis of viral diseases in humans for over 20 years.  Rothman’s research involves both clinical and basic research studies on pathogenesis and immunity of emerging and re-emerging viral infections.

Dengue is a disease caused by dengue virus, a member of the flavivirus family which includes other mosquito-borne viruses like West Nile virus. Dengue is a significant global public health burden, particularly in resource-poor countries of tropical and subtropical regions of the world.

Field studies for the project will be conducted by collaborators in Thailand and the Philippines who will look at natural dengue virus transmission in humans. This research will also include collaboration with a phase three vaccine trial. Laboratory research will take place in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Click here to read the press release.