OpportunityTitle: Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Great Lakes Northern Forests Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: This financial assistance opportunity is being issued under a Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program.  CESU&amp;#8217;s are partnerships that provide research, technical assistance, and education.  Eligible recipients must be a participating partner of the Great Lakes-Northern Forest CESU and contain a recognized soil science/chemistry department with documented expertise in CWD and prion research. Additionally, demonstrated experience in using RT-QuIC to detect prions from environmental samples and assessing effectiveness of inactivation methods for prions adhered to contaminated surfaces is essential.
Description: US Geological Survey is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU Partner for a research project that will target filling gaps in the application of RT-QuIC to support CWD management and research. Specifically, the project will support U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) efforts to establish a 1) bank of well-characterized reference samples that are available for USGS CWD research and the wider research community to ensure proper assay functioning, 2) identify optimal tissues for ante-mortem sampling, 3) determine biological relevance of RT-QuIC results, 4) optimize extraction methods and the assay for detection of prions from incinerator products generated during carcass disposal, and 5) evaluate the effectiveness of incineration for inactivating prions.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: fgraves@usgs.gov
GrantorContactText: FAITH GRAVES&lt;br/&gt;fgraves@usgs.gov
CloseDateExplanation: Electronically submitted applications must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m., ET, on the listed application due date.