TAMUK receives funding from USDA to study infections in mammals

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Dr. Richard Laughlin, an associate professor at Texas A&M University – Kingsville and chair of the Biological and Health Science Department, recently a grant that would benefit everyone.

Laughlin said his department received $2.4 million in funding from the United States Department of Agriculture. That money will be used to research the SARS COV-2 virus in wild and domestic animals.

“At A&M Kingsville, we take pride in the amount of research we offer for our students and the hands on experience they can get, and so I am really trying to use that as a strength in this grant and really put it to practice,” Laughlin said.

Talia Hernandez, a second year graduate student at TAMUK, said the university has opened many doors for her.

“My ultimate goal is to become a veterinarian, so the fact that I am able to implement my biology background with the study of animals is really exciting for me,” Hernandez said.

The animals that are used for this study will be swabbed much like humans were swabbed during the pandemic.

Laughlin said the ultimate goal of this project is to learn more about the biology and immunology of mammals potentially vulnerable to infections.

“We leveraged out strengths for this and I think the USDA saw the promise in the outcomes in this projects and the people we have assembled,” Lauglin said.

The funding is for two years with an additional year that will be unfunded.

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