As previously reported, due to COVID-19 pandemic and backorders of supplies, we had a short delay in starting the study. We have now received all the lab supplies. Screening of Bh SA2 expression genomic library by colony immunoblotting (Aim1) require additional time and research effort to identify potential diagnostic antigens for Canine Bartonelloses. Once we identify potential diagnostic markers, we will evaluate utility of these proteins and develop a reliable ELISA for serodiagnosis of Bartonella infection in dogs.
Dr. Pradeep Neupane received his doctorate in Intracellular Pathogens Research Laboratory and Comparative Biomedical Sciences and started a postdoctoral scientist position at UNC Medical Center. He took some time off to visit family in Nepal for the first time in four years due to his Ph. D. research and the pandemic. He also got married while in Nepal and was in the process of bringing his wife to the US. After numerous HR delays, we were able to hire a research technician to continue to move this study forward. We began to determine if we are able to bring Dr. Neupane back to NCSU from UNC Medical School to finish this work as his expertise proved invaluable to the project. We are reasonably sure that Dr. Neupane will be return in July and have received an extension through December 31,
2023 to finish this research.
