Media Releases and Opportunities

Wednesday, June 11, 2025 (Halifax) __ World-leading researchers at Dalhousie University have received a prestigious Moderna Global Fellowship Award to investigate emerging strains of mpox (formerly known as monkeypox), now circulating widely throughout Africa. This research could be instrumental in discovering treatments and developing new vaccines to combat the emergence of mpox as a potential global pathogen.

The project, led by Dr. David Kelvin and Dr. Anuj Kumar, has been awarded the two-year fellowship for an initiative that will harness Dalhousie's expertise in infectious diseases and computational/AI to strengthen Canada's capabilities in developing potential countermeasures against future health emergencies.

Dr. Kelvin, a renowned expert in emerging infectious diseases and Canada Research Chair in Translational Vaccinology and Inflammation, leads a team dedicated to combating and understanding infectious diseases with global implications. Dr. Kumar, an expert in bioinformatics and functional annotation, has worked as a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Kelvin's group since 2021.

"We are incredibly proud of the groundbreaking work by Dr. David Kelvin and Dr. Anuj Kumar," says Dr. Eileen Denovan-Wright, associate dean of research in Dalhousie's Faculty of Medicine. "Their research, supported by the Moderna Global Fellowship Award, is advancing our understanding of infectious diseases and paving the way for effective therapeutics and vaccines."

The primary goal of the project is to address ongoing mpox outbreaks in Central and East Africa by developing effective therapeutics and biomarkers -- the molecular indicators of disease.

The group will  conduct sequencing of the genome of those infected by the mpox virus to better understand the evolutionary pattern of current and emerging MPXV strains in Africa. This will help determine viral adaptation and transmission patterns, in addition to recombination events that may enhance MPXV virulence.

The researchers will also build research capacity by training scientists and fostering collaborations with industry and international health organizations.

"I am honoured to receive this prestigious fellowship in recognition of our research group's efforts to advance mpox virus research in Africa," says Dr. Kumar. "This fellowship empowers us to explore innovative approaches to screen biomarkers and develop effective next-generation therapeutics. I am grateful for this opportunity to contribute significantly to combating contagious emerging MPXV strains."

Mpox, a contagious viral illness, has circulated in parts of Africa for several decades. Travel-associated cases have also been reported in Europe, Asia, North America and South America. Symptoms can include a skin rash or mucosal lesions, fever, headache, muscle aches, low energy and swollen lymph nodes. In August 2024, the WHO designated mpox a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) under the International Health Regulations.

Currently, there are no treatments for this deadly disease, highlighting the urgent need for the development of potential novel vaccines and therapeutics.

Dr. Kelvin and his team have researched mpox extensively and last year worked with colleagues in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to complete genome sequencing and mutational mapping of early cases of Clade Ib, a novel, more transmissible strain of the mpox virus that was spreading through parts of the country.

Media contact:

Alison Auld
Senior Research Reporter
Dalhousie University
Cell: 1-902-220-0491
Email: alison.auld@dal.ca