# Establishing the role of the upper airway mycobiome on childhood respiratory outcomes

> **NIH NIH R21** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · 2021 · $212,500

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The aggregated evidence from prior studies using conventional-culture techniques suggests that early-life
upper airway colonization with certain fungi is strongly associated with the development of childhood asthma
and allergic rhinitis, which are leading causes of morbidity and increased health care costs in the pediatric
population. However, fungal cultures are difficult to perform, have poor sensitivity, and do not provide a
comprehensive assessment of the entire fungi in the respiratory tract. Thus, the diverse fungal communities
(i.e., the mycobiome) inhabiting the upper airway of young children have not been adequately assessed and
their effect on important biologic pathways or pediatric respiratory outcomes is largely unknown. To address
these gaps in knowledge, the main goals of this proposal are to characterize the upper airway mycobiome
during early childhood using next-generation sequencing techniques and to examine its association with
common childhood respiratory illnesses and the local immune response. To achieve these goals, we propose
the following specific aims: Aim 1: To assess whether early childhood upper airway mycobiome patterns are
associated with the development of recurrent wheeze, allergic rhinitis, and childhood asthma. Aim 2: To
examine whether early childhood upper airway mycobiome patterns are associated with the development of
the local immune response. To accomplish these specific aims in a rapid, efficient, and cost-effective manner,
we will 1) conduct a nested cohort study among a group of healthy children (n=361) with serial nasopharyngeal
samples and detailed assessment of clinical outcomes obtained as part of an ongoing, large, population-based
birth cohort that was specifically designed to identify and understand the early-life risk factors of the
development of childhood respiratory diseases, 2) capitalize on the laboratory and bioinformatic pipelines we
have assembled for our multiple prior studies of the early-life upper airway microbiome, as well as the
abundant resources at our institution for human microbiome research, and 3) build upon an ongoing
collaboration between experts in the field. The results of this proposal could inform the design of a future
interventions aimed to prevent the inception and reduce the burden of childhood asthma and allergic rhinitis
through the manipulation of the early-life upper airway microbial communities.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10173636
- **Project number:** 5R21AI154016-02
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Suman Ranjan Das
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $212,500
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-06-01 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10173636

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10173636, Establishing the role of the upper airway mycobiome on childhood respiratory outcomes (5R21AI154016-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10173636. Licensed CC0.

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