Despite extensive research, there is no evidence that scrapie prions can infect people. They are distinguished by long incubation periods, characteristic spongiform changes associated with neuronal loss, and a failure to induce inflammatory response. Research at the Prion Research Center. Prion diseases or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are a family of rare progressive neurodegenerative disorders that affect both humans and animals. The National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center (NPDPSC) was established in 1997 at the Division of Neuropathology of Case Western Reserve University. The Prion Research Center is a leader in the studies of the unique and emerging biological paradigm of prions and prion diseases. Researchers at the PRC study many different aspects of prions, including how they form; how they infect cells, tissues and animals; how to detect them and how to treat them. Patient Inquiries. The center is supported by the CDC and sponsored by the American Association of Neuropathologists.. NIAID scientists use scrapie prions that have been adapted to rodents to study how prion diseases work and to find new drugs to treat them. Scrapie Scrapie is a prion disease in sheep that has been present in sheep populations for almost 300 years. The National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center (NPDPSC) was created in 1997 as the national center to examine tissue for human cases of suspected prion disease occurring in the United States, most notably Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). If you, a family member, or a friend have been diagnosed with CJD, please contact the UCSF Memory and Aging Center, located on the first floor of the Sandler Neurosciences Center, at 415-476-2901.. Prion diseases, also known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies or TSEs, are a group of rare, fatal brain diseases that affect animals and humans. The Alberta Prion Research Institute, a part of Alberta Innovates, is funded by the Government of Alberta to support top researchers working on solutions to the serious scientific and socioeconomic challenges associated with prion diseases in animals and prion and prion-like diseases in humans. The Prion Research Center is a leader in studies of the unique and emerging biological paradigm of prions and prion diseases. They are caused by an infectious agent known as a prion, which is derived from a misfolded version of a normal host protein known as prion protein.