{"id":7792,"date":"2022-04-18T19:22:19","date_gmt":"2022-04-19T00:22:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=7792"},"modified":"2022-04-18T19:22:19","modified_gmt":"2022-04-19T00:22:19","slug":"uw-oshkosh-partners-with-fauna-bio-in-search-of-new-treatments-for-human-disease","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/uw-oshkosh-partners-with-fauna-bio-in-search-of-new-treatments-for-human-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"UW Oshkosh partners with Fauna Bio in search of new treatments for human disease"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo
Ben Sajdak \u201913, with Fauna Bio, and Dana Merriman, UWO biology professor emeritus, will collaborate on 13-lined ground squirrel research through a new partnership.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A new research collaboration between the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and the California-based biotech company Fauna Bio seeks to translate disease resistance strategies found in the animal kingdom into new treatments for human disease.<\/p>\n

\"FaunaFauna Bio has provided a $500,000 sponsorship that increases UW Oshkosh\u2019s capacity for biomedical collaborations and helps establish the University as a destination for researchers looking to study emerging animal models.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis partnership will advance the work already being done at UWO. It\u2019s an opportunity for our faculty to solidify their position as leaders in this field and to expand our educational opportunities for students,\u201d said UWO Provost John Koker.<\/p>\n

In the first two years, the partnership will grow the research impact of UWO and Fauna Bio, said Benjamin Sajdak \u201813, Fauna Bio\u2019s director of emerging animal models and a UWO adjunct biology professor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also will create new educational opportunities to foster the next generation of scientists in regeneration and disease resistance from local scientific seminars to research and biotechnology internships for students,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The collaboration will increase Fauna Bio\u2019s capabilities \u201ccentered on our beloved hibernating 13-lined ground squirrel as well as expanding to other species with unique adaptations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advancing research<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cWith the ability to prospectively design studies and collect samples at precise physiological time-points, the collaboration with UWO will enrich and enhance our own internal biobank datasets and no doubt lead to more novel insights on how species like the 13-lined ground squirrel resist developing human pathologies. This will help us develop more therapeutic programs and ultimately treat human diseases,\u201d said Katharine Grabek, Fauna Bio\u2019s chief scientific officer.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Photo<\/p>\n

Dana Merriman<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Neurophysiologist Dana Merriman began UWO\u2019s 13-lined ground squirrel breeding colony in 2003 to support the work of her visual system research. The ground squirrel is a promising animal model for studying human diseases, including Merriman\u2019s research on retinal diseases like the genetic disorder known as Usher Syndrome.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile traditional animal models like rats and mice have the stability provided by big businesses, breeding colonies of emerging model organisms are developed and maintained by individual scientists committed to them, as in my situation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Hibernating animals are known to be hard to raise in captivity, and Merriman is the only scientist to have been successful with the squirrels.<\/p>\n

She said the collaboration with Fauna Bio offers UWO global visibility and the opportunity to connect with scientists around the globe.<\/p>\n

Merriman retired in June 2021 but continues to work at UWO on National Institutes of Health-funded and contract research. Her primary involvement with Fauna Bio will be recruiting additional UWO faculty and students for the project and working to optimize operations and detail written protocols for raising the colony.<\/p>\n

Sajdak, a UWO biology major, completed undergraduate research in Merriman\u2019s lab as a McNair Scholar. He went on to earn a doctorate at the Medical College of Wisconsin, using UWO squirrels in his research.<\/p>\n

Learn more:<\/strong><\/p>\n