Five-year grant will support development of a comprehensive knowledge base to help researchers classify viruses and better understand their evolution and potential health impacts.
Elliot J. Lefkowitz, Ph.D., professor in the UAB Department of Microbiology, was awarded a five-year, $3.7 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, to develop a community knowledgebase designed to support virus research.
Elliot J. Lefkowitz, Ph.D. (left), and John Osborn, Ph.D. (right)The project, titled “Virus Taxonomy: A Community Knowledgebase Supporting Virus Research,” will receive a total of $3,724,955 over five years, from Aug. 1, 2026, through July 31, 2031. Along with Lefkowitz, John Osborne, Ph.D., associate professor in the UAB Department of Biomedical Informatics and Data Science, is a co-investigator on the project.
Lefkowitz’s interest in the evolution of viruses has shaped both his research and his work with the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, or ICTV, which is responsible for the taxonomic classification and naming of all the world’s viruses.
“I have a longstanding interest in virus evolution, including their origins, mechanisms that drive their evolution, and the development of methods to help predict their future evolutionary paths,” Lefkowitz said.
Taxonomy provides a framework for understanding the relationships among viruses by classifying them according to shared characteristics and evolutionary history. For Lefkowitz, that classification is more than a system for organizing names. It provides researchers with a starting point for understanding newly discovered viruses and their similarities and differences to known viruses.
Through the new grant, Lefkowitz and his collaborators will expand the resources available through the ICTV by developing a taxonomic database and a website with tools for searching, exploring, and displaying information. The resource will also include information about the taxonomic classification process and the viruses within the system.
“Our goal for this project is to enhance the usefulness of the ICTV classification by making it easily accessible and useful to everyone with an interest in viruses and their role in the worldwide ecosystem,” Lefkowitz explained.
The need for such a resource is becoming increasingly important as researchers discover more viruses through advances in sampling and genetic sequencing technologies. Scientists have identified only a small portion of the planet’s virome, or the collection of all viruses found on Earth. As researchers uncover more of that virome, they need effective ways to organize the information and establish relationships among newly identified viruses.
A stronger understanding of those relationships could have important implications for human health, particularly as new viral pathogens emerge.
The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated how quickly a novel virus can become a global health threat. SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, evolved as it adapted to humans, changing in response to the host, immunity generated through infection and vaccination, and the use of antiviral treatments.
“We must understand this ongoing evolution by the viral pathogen to learn how to better treat infected patients and prevent future infection,” Lefkowitz said.
By improving access to information about viral relationships and characteristics, the project will help researchers build a stronger foundation for studying emerging pathogens and understanding their characteristics.
Lefkowitz’s work with the ICTV builds on his longstanding involvement with the organization and its efforts to maintain a comprehensive system for virus classification. Through the new grant, his team will continue combining virology, bioinformatics, and computational approaches to make that information more accessible and useful to the research community.