Open Philanthropy recommended a grant of USD 778,886 over three years to Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), a research agency within the Australian government, to support research into henipaviruses.
This research, which is lead by principal investigator Cameron Stewart, will explore the mechanisms by which inhibiting the rRNA2’O-methyltransferase fibrillarin function prevents henipaviruses from growing in human cells. Understanding these mechanisms may prove useful for developing drugs against henipaviruses, which are a family of viruses with pandemic potential.