Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common virus that most people carry without ever getting sick. But for people with weakened immune systems, such as transplant patients, CMV can cause serious illness. Treating CMV in these cases often involves antiviral drugs, but the virus can sometimes develop resistance, making the treatment less effective and putting patients at risk.

Right now, testing for drug-resistant CMV strains is slow and complicated and can miss important changes (mutations) in the virus. To improve this, our project is developing a faster and more accurate way to detect drug resistance using a cutting-edge DNA sequencing technology called Oxford Nanopore.

This method quickly reads the entire CMV genome directly from patient samples and identifies changes that may affect treatment. We are also building a user-friendly computer program called CURE that can securely – without sending patient information online – easily analyze the data and provide doctors with detailed drug resistance reports. This novel tool will assist clinicians in choosing which drugs will work best, helping them make faster, more personalized treatment decisions. The goal is to improve outcomes for transplant patients in Manitoba and set a new standard for CMV testing in hospitals across Canada and beyond.