Resources | Midwest Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Center

What is the Midwest AViDD Center and why was it created?

The Midwest Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Center was created in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. What has become painfully and tragically clear is that we need to be better prepared to handle current and future pandemics. While effective vaccine development has dominated the international response to Covid-19, it has been proven that current vaccines are not enough and that effective antiviral therapeutics urgently need to be developed to handle viral mutations and future outbreaks. The Center will lead the development of next-generation antiviral drugs for pandemic-level viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, Ebola, Lassa and Zika viruses.

The Midwest AViDD Center is part of a network of nine national centers established by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and funded through the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan. As part of the Antiviral Program for Pandemics (APP), the Center is led by NIAID, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) and the Office of Research Infrastructure Programs, all part of NIH; and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of HHS.

Where is the Midwest AViDD Center located?

Headquartered at the University of Minnesota, the Midwest AViDD Center brings together 15 universities nationwide and in Singapore. Participating universities include Baylor College of Medicine, Boston University, Georgia State University, Iowa State University, Nanyang Technological University Singapore, New York Blood Center, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, UF Scripps Biomedical Research, University of California Berkeley, University of California San Diego, University of Illinois Chicago, University of Iowa, University of Louisville, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and University of Texas Health San Antonio.

Who are the Principal Investigators of the Midwest AViDD Center?

The Midwest AViDD Center is co-led by Dr. Reuben Harris, Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology at the University of Texas San Antonio and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Dr. Fang Li, Professor and Endowed Chair at the Department of Pharmacology and Director for the Center for Coronavirus Research at the University of Minnesota.

In addition, over forty researchers and their labs are part of the Center, allowing the Center to leverage expertise across disciplines to discover effective responses to pandemics, life-threatening infections, and antimicrobial resistance through basic, translational and clinical research. Most of the researchers had been working together on the SARS-CoV-2 virus before the establishment of the Center.

What is the goal of the Midwest AViDD Center?

Embedded in an academic setting, the Center aims to deliver novel inhibitors that can be developed into effective orally available drugs that potently and safely suppress virus replication and help prevent infections. After developing effective inhibitors, the Center will work with the pharmaceutical industry to bring new antivirals to market through clinical trials.

Equally important, a well-trained group of antiviral researchers, including next-generation experts and leaders, will be produced by the Center.

How will the Midwest AViDD Center succeed?

Together, the Center’s researchers will accelerate the development of new antiviral drugs through a highly collaborative scientific environment. Knowledge gained and discoveries made will be shared with universities and experts around the world with the goal of bringing life-saving drugs to market faster and more cheaply. The Midwest AViDD Center researchers will no longer work in slow-moving silos nor must wait for market demand to advance their work.