Pat Palmer Foundation funding allows for advances in Avian bornavirus research at the Schubot Center
Another successful year for the research of Avian bornavirus (ABV) at the Schubot Center has been made possible thanks to the generous support of the Pat Palmer Foundation, now in its fifth consecutive year of funding.
Under the leadership of Dr. Caitlin Mencio, the experimental and ABV vaccine testing stage has produced some innovative progress. ABV vaccine candidates are being actively tested with the hope that one of them will prevent infection and/or reduce disease progression. In the upcoming year, the ABV Schubot team will be searching for serum biomarkers to better understand the progression from infection to disease, disease progression, and possibly identify new treatment targets.
Dr. Mencio and her team are also leading efforts to educate and update the public about avian bornavirus. In this regard, she and Dr. Sharman Hopes presented at the Avicultural United conference—the combined conference for the American Federation of Aviculture, Avicultural Society of America, and the Organization of Professional Aviculturists—in Dallas in 2023.
This past year, under the lead of Dr. Don Brightsmith, the ABV information site on the Schubot webpage was updated to include a section with “Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about PDD and ABV” in an effort to disseminate our team’s and other teams’ recent findings about this disease.
We are deeply grateful to Mark Finkelstein and the Pat Palmer Foundation for their support in the search for a vaccine and treatment for this disease, which has been a major concern in the aviculture community for the past decades.