AGREETT program recruits innovative leaders for state agricultural research

The Agricultural Research, Education, Extension and Technology Transfer (AGREETT) program, developed by Minnesota lawmakers in 2015 includes a multi-year $5 million state investment through the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) in agricultural research, Extension and teaching at the University of Minnesota. An advisory panel of agriculture industry representatives, University leaders, and the MDA determine the most important challenges facing agriculture. The University then hires research faculty, graduate students and Extension educators to address those concerns. As of February 2021, 31 faculty and Extension educators have been hired to focus on issues that include clean water; crop and livestock productivity; microbial science; soil fertility; agricultural technology; pest resistance; and climate change. AGREETT will grow the capacity of the University to reach farmers across the state with research, data and innovations that enable them to make sound decisions, conserve resources, cope with emerging problems and discover new opportunities. AGREETT funds will improve preparation for, and response to, global diseases that threaten animal, human and environmental health. This investment in the University will benefit everyone in the state because it is an investment in Minnesota’s food, economy, communities and environment.

The department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences (VBS) also has a role to play in recruiting faculty and researchers into this important initiative that has direct relevance to residents and industries of Minnesota. Current VBS AGREET affiliates include:

Matthew Aliota, Ph.D.

Dr. Aliota’s research program at the University of Minnesota is focused on improving preparation for and response to global diseases that threaten animal and human health—primarily those that are transmitted by arthropods. Since the 1970s, global re-emergence of mosquito-borne infectious diseases has accelerated to the point that emerging arbovirus infections have become a “new normal”. Climate change, globalization, urbanization, and lack of effective mosquito control, among other factors, have enhanced opportunities for spread and geographic expansion. The current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic underscores that RNA viruses can emerge unpredictably to cause human disease on a global scale. Characterizing viruses with potential emergence risk is a critical part of defending against future viral threats. Accordingly, his  group has been working to characterize esoteric viruses to determine whether they have features that portend medically significant future outbreaks. 

Current Projects: 

• 
  

  Working in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Health to better understand the changing epidemiology of tick-borne Powassan virus in Minnesota.

  
  


• 
  

  Using the  AerosolSense™ in-air surveillance system to determine how well these samplers detect SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory pathogens in real-world congregate settings where there is complex ventilation and traffic patterns.

  
  


• 
  

  Testing for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in MN wildlife species (especially cervids like moose) to better understand the changing landscape of zoonotic SARS-CoV-2 in the Upper Midwest—In collaboration with the Lake Superior Band of Chipewa.

  
  


• 
  

  Combining experimental evolution with our well-established methods for deep sequencing data to identify patterns of viral evolution, and assess how viral genetic variability, pathogenesis, and transmission are linked.

  
  


• 
  

  Understanding how pre-existing immunity shapes the outcome of infections with antigenically variable viruses.  

  
  

Research Goals:

Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) are highly mutable RNA viruses. Therefore, ongoing viral evolution may generate important phenotypic variants, including strains that differ in host range, transmission mechanisms and efficiency, tissue tropism, antigenicity, and/or virulence. Although these novel biological functions often require multiple concerted genomic changes, how such combinations of mutations can arise and be favored by natural selection is unclear. Understanding the links between viral genetic variability and host specialization will provide fundamental insight into arbovirus population-level genetics and is critically important for revealing strengths and weaknesses of these viruses that could be targeted for intervention. As a result, his group is conducting fundamental experimental work that will elucidate how heterogeneity in host immune function influences the evolution of virulence and transmission. While his work primarily focuses on the genus Flavivirus, it has direct applications for numerous arthropod-borne pathogens of consequence to agriculture, e.g., Rift Valley Fever virus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, Cache Valley virus, bluetongue virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, etc. To this end, he was recently asked to advise the Swine Health Information Center and National Pork Board on preparedness steps for a potential Japanese encephalitis virus introduction from Australia into the U.S. 

Peter Larsen, Ph.D.

Peter Larsen leads a diverse research program that focuses on zoonotic pathogen surveillance and discovery, prion biology and diagnostics, and the origins of neurodegenerative disease. Larsen has over 18 years of research experience in molecular biology, mammalogy, and genomics. He specializes in domestic and international field-research for the collection of wild mammalian host/reservoir species for emerging zoonotic disease and has led expeditions throughout the USA as well as central and southeast Asia, Madagascar, South America, the Caribbean, and Mexico. Students and staff within the Larsen lab utilize innovative genomic and proteomic approaches to strategically advance key areas of research in the fields of molecular diagnostics, agricultural and environmental biotechnology, and neuroscience. In addition to his research program, Peter conducts a wide variety of outreach activities aimed at increasing public awareness and knowledge of Chronic Wasting Disease, a prion disease of cervids.  Dr. Larsen is a faculty member of the Minnesota Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Tech Transfer program (AGREETT). He is also Co-Director of the newly established Minnesota Center for Prion Research and Outreach (MNPRO).

Current Projects:

• 
  
  Transcriptomics of genetically modified cattle for increased beef and milk production in Africa.
  
  


• 
  
  Development and commercialization of seeded-amplification assays for the rapid detection of prions underlying Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in cervids, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle, and Crutzefled-Jakob disease in humans.
  
  


• 
  
  Development of protocols for the rapid and high-throughput detection of prions in meat-processing pipelines.
  
  


• 
  
  Pathogen surveillance and discovery in wild and peridomestic species of primates, bats, and rodents in Guyana, South America.
  
  


• 
  
  Field-based real-time surveillance of tick-borne pathogens in Minnesota.
  
  


• 
  
  Development of prion forensic methods for the detection of CWD prions in remains, environmental samples, and surfaces.
  
  


• 
  
  Transcriptomics and biomarker discovery of sporadic Alzheimer’s Disease.  
  
  


• 
  
  Xenodiagnostics of blood-feeding insects and ticks associated with farmed and wild cervid
  
  

Research Goals: 

The overarching goal of the Larsen lab is to conduct translational science and outreach by leveraging innovative interdisciplinary team approaches. To achieve this, the Larsen lab brings together diverse students, postdocs, staff, as well as internal and external collaborators, whose common mission is to perform impactful and productive research.

Roberta O’Connor, Ph. D.

The laboratory of Roberta O’Connor focuses on natural product drug discovery for diseases caused by apicomplexan parasites.  Her lab primarily seeks to identify compounds that are effective against  Cryptosporidium and Toxoplasma parasites.  Cryptosporidium is a gastrointestinal parasite, found world wide, that causes severe diarrheal disease in both humans and neonatal ruminants.  There are no vaccines and no effective therapeutics to treat cryptosporidiosis.  Toxoplasma, the “cat parasite”  is a cause of birth defects in humans and abortions in sheep.  Toxoplasma is closely related to Cryptosporidium and is more genetically tractable than Cryptosporidium, allowing for identification and manipulation of drug targets.  

Current Projects: 

Because ocean flora and fauna are a rich source of unusual compounds, her team screens marine sources for antiparasitic compounds.  This approach has proved very fruitful and she has several marine sourced compounds that are being investigated for their use as therapeutics for cryptosporidiosis.  Her lab has also teamed with the Salomon lab in the Center for Drug Design, to screen compounds isolated from Soudan Mine fungi for anti-Cryptosporidium and anti-Toxoplasma activity.  Several fungal metabolites have been identified that kill both parasites, and characterization of their activity is ongoing.

Research Goals:

Once O’Connor’s team has identified compounds effective against these parasites, and that are not toxic to host cells, they will try to identify the target of the compound using a variety of techniques such as forward genetics, RNAseq, and proteomics. To improve screening assays and parasite culture techniques they work with intestinal organoids from a variety of species. Promising compounds are further investigated for their pharmacokinetic properties and efficacy in vivo in both small and large animal models.