Recent Research Funding

Our faculty secure major research grants from various National Institutes of Health as well as private sources.

  • The urothelial glycosaminoglycan layer: composition and contribution to pathogen fitness during catheter-associated urinary tract infection. Chelsie Armbruster (Principal Investigator). NIH/NIDDK. $3,045,103. 6/1/2024-4/1/2029.
  • Virologic and immunologic impacts of active viral persistence in lung AMs of HIV-1-infected, cART-suppressed individuals. Saikat Boliar (Principal Investigator). NIAID. $2,915,905. 5/1/2024-3/1/2029.
  • Disease progression modeling of bladder cancer. Yijun Sun (Co-Principal Investigator). NIH. $2,507,223. 9/1/2022-8/1/2028.
  • Site Specific Drug Delivery with Light-responsive Conjugates for Photobiomodulation. Elizabeth Wohlfert (Co-Investigator). NIH. $2,011,250. 8/1/2023-6/1/2028.
  • Prognostic analysis and progression modeling of basal-like breast cancer using multiregion sequencing. Yijun Sun (Principal Investigator). NIH. $3,159,483. 6/1/2023-6/1/2028.
  • IMSD at IUSM Inclusive Biomedical Research Training Program. Gustavo Arrizabalaga (Co-Principal Investigator). NIGMS. 2/1/2023-1/1/2028.
  • Host and microbial risk factors of oral thrush in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Yijun Sun (Co-Investigator). NIH. $4,100,000. 7/1/2022-6/1/2027.
  • Liposomal Encapsulation Vaccine Design for Pneumococcal Disease in Aged Subjects. Elsa Bou Ghanem (Co-Principal Investigator). NIA. $2,015,365. 8/1/2022-4/1/2027.
  • T Regulatory cell responses in Toxoplasma-infected muscle. Elizabeth Wohlfert (Principal Investigator). NIAID/NIH. $2,445,371. 2/1/2022-3/1/2027.
  • F31 Predoctoral Fellowship (Shaunna Simmons):The role of A1 adenosine receptor signaling in the decline of S. pneumoniae killing by neutrophils in vaccinated aged hosts. Elsa Bou Ghanem (Contributor). NIAID-F31. $96,900. 1/1/2023-12/1/2026.
  • Predoctoral fellowship (Anagha Betadpur): The interaction of neutrophils and regulatory T cells during pneumococcal conjugate vaccine responses in aged hosts. Elsa Bou Ghanem (Other). American Heart Association. $69,548. 1/1/2025-12/1/2026.
  • MARCH proteins, members of a host protein family that targets HIV. Spyridon Stavrou (Principal Investigator). NIH/NIAID. $1,974,920. 12/1/2021-11/1/2026.
  • Ribosome Heterogeneity in C. neoformans. John Panepinto (Principal Investigator). NIAID / NIH. 8/1/2021-7/1/2026.
  • The role of neutrophils in the age-driven decline in anti-pneumococcal vaccine responses. Elsa Bou Ghanem (Principal Investigator). NIA-R01. $1,684,125. 9/1/2021-5/1/2026.
  • Deciphering hormonal regulation of neutrophil biology. Elsa Bou Ghanem (Co-Investigator). NIA-R01. $2,728,945. 9/1/2022-5/1/2026.
  • The role of neutrophils in the age-driven decline in anti-pneumococcal vaccine responses. Elizabeth Wohlfert (Co-Investigator). NIH. $2,634,726. 9/1/2021-3/1/2026.
  • Lipid Mediated Oral Tolerance. Elizabeth Wohlfert (Co-Principal Investigator). NIH. $2,422,174. 6/1/2022-3/1/2026.
  • The role of the extracellular adenosine pathway in the age-driven susceptibility to pulmonary infections. Elsa Bou Ghanem (Principal Investigator). VPHS Aging Seed Funding. $50,000. 11/1/2024-12/1/2025.
  • Long-range, volumetric middle ear imaging towards pediatric otitis media. Chelsie Armbruster (Co-Investigator). NIH-sponsored CTSI Pilot Grant. $49,700. 1/1/2025-12/1/2025.
  • Investigating a novel contact-dependent killing system and its contribution to pathogen dominance in the urinary tract. Chelsie Armbruster (Co-Investigator). NIH/NIAID. $42,433. 12/1/2022-11/1/2025.