Mad cow disease research in Calgary gets funding boost

The federal government is contributing almost $3 millionto support the work offour new research chairs at the University of Calgary.

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One of the recipients is SabineGilch from veterinary medicine whosefocus is on prion diseases a family of rare progressive neurodegenerative disordersin animals and humans.

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy(BSE) or mad cow disease is a main part of her research.

"It is now 10 years ago the first BSE-infected cow was diagnosed here, and this finding cost huge economical loss to Alberta and to Canada," she said.

"Today, BSE seems to be under control, but now cases of chronic wasting disease are on the rise also in Alberta."

Chronic wasting diseaseaffects deer, elk and moose in the province.Like BSE, it is caused by infectious proteins called prions that infect the brain and spinal cord of the animals.

Although the diseases are incurable, Gilch wants to find new treatment methods.

"This is what we are working on, by getting more insight into basic cellular events, we want to get new targets for treatment," she said.

Gilch says asolution is neededto stop the disease's unpredictable spread among animals and shenow has funding for her research.

"It enables me to follow my passion for science and it brings me one step closer to my goal of becoming an international leader in my field of research," she said.