The Department of Microbiology and Immunology announces new grant awards from faculty and a graduate student.
Dr. Bradley Jones, PhD, Professor in Microbiology and Immunology
NIH R03 - "Influence of an E. coli hyperadherent probiotic on Salmonella intestinal colonization"
Dr. Bradley Jones, Professor in Microbiology and Immunology, has received a new NIH R03 Small Grant Program research award from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. This 2-year award is focused on developing a new strategy to combat the incidence of salmonellosis in the US and to reduce the risk of carriage of antibiotic resistant Enterobacteriacea that are an increasingly important health issue. The project is focused on optimizing binding activity of type 1 fimbriae in E. coli Nissle 1917 as a probiotic strain that can outcompete pathogenic Salmonella strains for intestinal colonization in chickens. The project should lead to a reduction in Salmonella infectious diseases and provide alternatives to the usage of antibiotics to reduce these infections.
Dr. Balaji Manicassamy, PhD, Professor in Microbiology and Immunology
and Dr. Paul McCray, MD, Professor of Pediatrics-Pulmonary Medicine and Microbiology and Immunology
NIH R01 - "Investigation of host glycan requirements for the transmission of influenza viruses at the human-animal interface"
Balaji Manicassamy, PhD and Paul McCray, MD have received a 5-year NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research Project Grant award. This project recognizes that influenza viruses infect a broad range of species including humans, pigs, domestic birds (chickens, ducks) and water fowls; these viruses infect host cells by binding to cell surface glycans, which vary among host species. Zoonotic influenza viruses capable of efficiently utilizing human glycans can cause pandemics in humans. The goal of this project is to identify the types of glycans necessary for influenza virus infection of different hosts and develop a technology platform that can reliably assess and identify zoonotic influenza virus strains capable of causing human infections. This work involves collaboration with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Maryland-College Park and the State Universities of New York-Buffalo.
Jonah Elliff – Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Immunology
and the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP)
NIH F30 - Evaluating the impact of malaria on immunogenicity of the Ebola virus vaccine
Congratulations to MD/PhD candidate, Jonah Elliff, who has been awarded a Ruth L. Kirschstein Individual Predoctoral NRSA for MD/PhD and other Dual Degree Fellowship research grant from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. This 4-year award will focus on using a mouse model to mechanistically define the effect of acute Plasmodium infection on the efficacy of Ebola (EBOV) vaccine. Studies from the Zaire Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa suggested that the FDA-approved EBOV vaccine can be highly effective; however, more recent data from the Democratic Republic of the Congo revealed that EBOV vaccine failure rates may be as high as 30%. The lab postulates that acute Plasmodium parasitemia that is prevalent in Central Africa decreases immune responses to the FDA-approved vaccine. Mr. Elliff will pursue this project under the direction of Drs. Wendy Maury and Noah Butler, Professors in Microbiology and Immunology.