Pilot Project call for applications from UND’s Host-Pathogen Interactions CoBRE
In anticipation of funding for the fourth consecutive year, the UND Center for Biomedical Research Excellence (CoBRE) in Host-Pathogen Interactions (HPI) invites proposals for pilot projects to support promising research that fits well within the scientific theme of the Center. We anticipate supporting two or three new pilot projects at up to $50,000 direct costs per year for one year with an anticipated start date of June 1, 2019.
The objective of the HPI CoBRE is to support the thematic, multidisciplinary center that augments and expands our ability to gain further understanding of host-specific events that are critical to identify potential new targets for treatments of devastating diseases resulting from chronic inflammation at mucosal surfaces. The UND HPI CoBRE pilot program is open to all full time UND faculty. It is expected that this program will attract investigators into the broader research area of host-microbe interactions at mucosal surfaces, foster new collaborations among new and existing investigators, and promote the utilization of flow cytometry, imaging, and histopathology core facilities.
Preference will be given to research projects that have the potential of becoming a full research project for Phase II of this CoBRE with the broad theme of host-microbial interactions at skin, lung, and gut mucosal surfaces. Preference will also be given to projects that extensively utilize one or more of the core labs (see https://med.und.edu/host-pathogen). Successful applications may incorporate one or more of the following topics:
- Mucosal immune responses to infectious and non-infectious insults
- Chronic inflammation in neoplastic and non-neoplastic diseases of mucosa
- Microbiome effects on health and disease states in the host
- Microbial manipulation of host immune processes
- Host responses that impact lung, gut, and skin mucosal inflammation
- Investigations into understanding inflammatory processes in health and disease
- Development of new research tools to study host-microbe interactions
- Identification of new therapeutics, diagnostics, and treatments for infectious and inflammatory diseases
Funds will be released in two six-month installments. Funded investigators will report the progress of the project to the CoBRE Principle Investigators at the end of first six months. The second installment of funds will be released contingent upon the progress made.
Prospective applicants with questions about eligibility, program details, or the “fit” of their project to the CoBRE theme are encouraged to contact Dr. Jyotika Sharma (701.777.2624 or jyotika.sharma@med.und.edu).
