Prionet Canada: A Network of Centres of Excellence for Research on Prion Diseases—Ongoing and Future Research Directions

Abstract

It is PrioNet's vision to build a network that shapes and sustains prion research in Canada, translating basic science into accessible socioeconomic benefits for global betterment. PrioNet's research is developing surveillance measures, diagnostic tools, vaccines, and potential therapies and determining the various impacts of prion diseases on people. PrioNet seeks to integrate scientifically informed risk management strategies and to use this knowledge to address ongoing problems posed by bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), the gathering crisis of chronic wasting disease (CWD), emerging issues of human prion disease, and basic scientific understanding of the nature of prions. PrioNet is strategically responding to prion threats by focusing its network of highly accomplished researchers and trainees to implement integrated risk management strategies that could not be supported by other mechanisms.

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the continued support provided by PrioNet Canada and the Alberta Prion Research Institute, and funding from the Networks of Centres of Excellence Canada (NCE) program, a joint initiative of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and Industry Canada. D. Krewski is the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Chair in Risk Science at the University of Ottawa. N. Cashman is the Canada Research Chair in Neurodegeneration and Protein Misfolding Diseases.