CURE Project

The Cytomegalovirus Understanding and Resistance Evaluation (CURE) Research Project

The CURE Project is awarded through the 2025 Manitoba Medical Service Foundation Research Operating Grant and is co-funded by The Kidney Foundation of Canada. These grants offer support to early career researchers seeking to maintain and improve the health of all Manitoba residents.

Led by Dr. Ayooluwa Bolaji at the University of Manitoba, the CURE project addresses a key issue for transplant patients: antiviral treatment resistance of cytomegalovirus (CMV).

Purpose of the Study

Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common virus that most people carry without ever getting sick. But for transplant recipients who have weakened immune systems, CMV can cause serious illness. While antiviral medications can treat CMV infections, the virus can develop resistance to them. This is a common and serious issue that puts transplant patients at increased risk.

Being able to quickly and accurately test for drug-resistant strains of CMV is crucial. Yet, current testing is slow, complicated, and can miss important changes in the virus. To improve this, Dr. Bolaji aim to develop a faster and more accurate way to detect CMV drug resistance using cutting-edge DNA sequencing technology.

By doing so, Dr. Bolaji hopes to build a secure, efficient, and user-friendly analysis tool, called CURE (Cytomegalovirus Understanding and Resistance Evaluation), that can provide clinicians detailed drug resistance reports. 

Impact

The development of this novel tool will help guide faster, more personalized treatment options for patients with CMV infection. Overall, this will improve the health of transplant patients and the longevity of their transplanted organ.  Further, this project will set a new standard for CMV testing in hospitals across Canada and beyond. 

“This project brings cutting‑edge genome sequencing into clinical care, transforming how CMV drug resistance is detected in transplant patients and setting a new standard for patient‑centered diagnostics.” – Dr. Ayooluwa Bolaji, Principal Investigator. 

Collaborators 

-Dr. Kerry Dust, Scientist, Cadham Provincial Laboratory, Virus Detection.