Novel Approaches to Study Polymicrobial Diseases

The summary for the Novel Approaches to Study Polymicrobial Diseases grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the National Institutes of Health, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

Novel Approaches to Study Polymicrobial Diseases: The NIH Institutes listed above invite research grant applications to conduct studies designed to develop innovative approaches that would contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms that impact on the virulence of infections involving two or more microorganisms or strains of microorganisms (with the exception of HIV). This announcement encourages investigators to think beyond the one organism-one disease concept and instead to consider the fact that many diseases are caused by the synergistic and inhibitory interactions of bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi. Projects should include studies aimed at understanding the cellular and molecular interactions of pathogens with the normal flora as well as the interactions among pathogens themselves, and how commensal organisms can be used to prevent or treat infections; however, this PA is limited to those projects that involve or are based on intermicrobial interactions that have been well documented to occur in clinical settings. In addition, extensive research is needed on the host responses to polymicrobial infections in order to develop new approaches to treat and prevent these infections. The development of co-infection models and the use of genomic and proteomic technologies to identify common virulence mechanisms and host response patterns as well as the development of diagnostic and prognostic microbial/host signature patterns are encouraged. Because of the complexity of such projects, the establishment of collaborative scientific teams, both domestic and international, with diverse scientific disciplines studying polymicrobial diseases, including microbiology, immunology, biochemistry, clinical medicine, pathology, bioengineering, material science, imaging technology, and mathematical modeling are encouraged.