Visit driven by progress on Project Orion, a laboratory complex for advanced pathogen research
On April 25 a delegation that included a representative from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a state-of-the-art research center and international reference in biosafety, visited the campus of the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM). The group came to learn more about activities at the institution and the details of Project Orion, a laboratory complex for advanced pathogen research being implemented by CNPEM together with other partners. The infrastructure, which involves constructing a maximum biosafety containment laboratory connected to the Sirius particle accelerator, is planned to address different health challenges and benefit various areas such as science and technology, defense, and the environment.
Delegation of representatives from the CDC, US Department of Health and Human Services, US Consulate General, and the Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology visit CNPEM. Photo shows a research station at the Sirius particle accelerator (Credit: Outreach/CNPEM)
About this visit by one of the world’s leading health institutions, CNPEM Director General Antonio José Roque da Silva commented that “Establishing an initial dialog and potentially a future partnership with the CDC benefits not only CNPEM but the entire health surveillance and research system in Brazil and South America. To dialog with an institution like the CDC that is a reference in practices connecting science and public health is essential for us to discuss future trends and advance studies and developments that are globally competitive and relevant. And on the other hand, showing Brazil’s capacities for cutting-edge knowledge, as in the case of Sirius, is also important so that these international collaborations bear fruit and Orion can start to be recognized internationally as a unique project that will be able to respond to the most challenging health problems that society may face in the future,” he added.
The CDC’s South America Regional Director Juliette Morgan observed that the imminent risk of new pandemics emerging is central to investigation of new pathogens. She explained that mutual cooperation is essential for this to occur and to think about developing studies and strategies to face health challenges.
“The visit really changed my impression of this institution that is CNPEM. What impressed me most was understanding this spirit of research from a vision that sets its sights on the future, and how these capacities can advance research in Brazil as well as for South America and globally. The world has seen the impact of a pandemic like Covid-19, and we need to recognize that partnerships are fundamental so that we can be ready for threats in the future. I believe that the lab, this large-scale project [Orion], will be very important for Brazil and for the region. There is a major need to conduct research in this area with pathogens, which have the potential to cause the next pandemic. It is essential to have this capacity in Brazil and in South America, and our partnership will be important to maintain and expand collaborations as well as to learn what is happening in Brazil, in mutual cooperation. I am really very impressed, I am very willing and interested in starting a relationship, the beginning of a collaboration and relations with CNPEM in the future,” said Morgan.
Check out this interview with the CDC’s South America Regional Director Juliette Morgan
Leandro Pedron, Director of the Thematic Programs Department at MCTI, stressed the importance of Orion in facing health crises, and the significance of collaborating with the CDC, a leading global research center and central reference in maximum biological containment laboratories. “The strategic decision to support the creation of a BSL-4 laboratory in Latin America validates the MCTI’s emphasis on preparing the country to face future pandemics and infectious diseases. Project Orion will strengthen the national response to high-risk infectious agents, ensuring a proactive and effective approach to protecting public health. In this field, international cooperation will allow researchers to share discoveries, techniques, and best practices for handling dangerous pathogenic agents. With this in mind and considering the CDC’s expansive expertise in this area, we believe this cooperation will be essential so that Orion can share these high standards for biosafety and regulations and in the future the two institutions can establish joint research protocols,” commented Pedron.
The visit was led by CNPEM Director General Antonio José Roque da Silva, along with Maria Augusta Arruda, Director of the Brazilian Biosciences National Laboratory (LNBio), Rodrigo Capaz of the Brazilian Nanotechnology National Laboratory (LNNano), Rodrigo Portugal, Coordinator of the Electron Cryomicroscopy Laboratory at LNNano, CNPEM specialist in high biological containment and biosafety Tatiana Ometto, and the researchers Rafael Elias (Virology) and Mateus Borba Cardoso (Department of Soft and Biological Material Division, DMB) of the Brazilian Synchrotron Light National Laboratory (LNLS).
The delegation consisted of the CDC’s South America Regional Director Juliette Morgan, Public Health Analyst Dailani Carrijo Begnini of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Renan Silva, Environmental, Science, Technology, and Health Specialist at the US consulate in São Paulo, and two representatives from the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Director of the Thematic Programs Department (DEPTE) Leandro Pedron and Coordinator General of Health, Biotechnology, and Agricultural Sciences Thiago de Mello Moraes.
Arenaviruses circulating in South America
South America is facing public health threats due to various factors including new transmissible diseases. Circulating in Brazil and other countries in the region are arenaviruses such as the Sabiá virus (SABV), a class 4 pathogen that causes severe hemorrhagic fever, along with the Junín, Guanarito, and Machupo viruses, which cause Argentinean, Venezuelan, and Bolivian hemorrhagic fever, respectively.
Visit to the site where Orion will be built (Credit: Outreach/CNPEM)
The existence of these pathogenic agents circulating in South America reinforces the importance of establishing an infrastructure that will be able to provide a safe environment to investigate these microorganisms, such as Orion.
About the CDC
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the US government’s public health agency responsible for combating disease, and responds to the most urgent threats to America’s public health.
The CDC is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and is the world’s largest and most important research center and the main reference for maximum biological containment laboratories. Its South American office was opened in 2020, and at that time Juliette Morgan was appointed Regional Director for South America.
Project Orion
Project Orion will be a laboratory complex for advanced pathogen research which will involve Latin America’s first high and maximum biological containment level facilities (BSL-4), and the only lab of this kind in the world connected to a particle accelerator, Sirius. Currently under construction in the city of Campinas, São Paulo on the CNPEM campus, this project will combine analytic techniques and advanced competencies in bioimaging which will be open to the scientific community and public agencies. By permitting advances in knowledge on pathogens and related diseases, Orion will support health surveillance activities and policies, as well as the development of diagnostic methods, vaccines, treatments, and epidemiological strategies. Orion will support national sovereignty in facing health crises, and has the potential to benefit various areas such as health, science and technology, defense, and the environment.
About CNPEM
The Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) is home to a state-of-the-art, multi-user and multidisciplinary scientific environment, and works on different fronts within the Brazilian National System for Science, Technology and Innovation. A social organization overseen by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), CNPEM is driven by research that impacts the areas of health, energy, renewable materials, and sustainability. It is responsible for Sirius, the largest assembly of scientific equipment constructed in the country, and is currently developing Project Orion, a laboratory complex for advanced pathogen research. Highly specialized science and engineering teams, sophisticated infrastructure open to the scientific community, strategic lines of investigation, innovative projects involving the productive sector, and training for researchers and students are the pillars of this institution which is unique in Brazil and can serve as a bridge between knowledge and innovation. It is responsible for operating the Brazilian Synchrotron Light (LNLS), Biosciences (LNBio), Nanotechnology (LNNano), and Biorenewables (LNBR) National Laboratories, as well as the Ilum School of Science, which offers a bachelor’s degree program in science and technology with support from the Ministry of Education (MEC).
