# Omics/Clinical Core

> **NIH NIH U19** · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · 2021 · $221,539

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
To support the goals of the SIM-STI Program, that aims at developing an innovative biomimetic model of the
cervicovaginal environment comprising the microbiota to elucidate how the host-microbiota interactions are
driving host functioning and response to infection by C. trachomatis or N. gonorrhoeae. To study these
interactions requires technical approaches that describe the system from a broad perspective without prior
knowledge to observe functioning of both the host, the microbiome and the pathogen(s), such as global
transcriptomics (human host RNAseq and bacterial community transcriptomics [metatranscriptomics]),
glycomics and in-depth immune cytokines and chemokines characterizations. Here we propose to apply these
omics approaches to support Project 1, 2 and 3 of the SIM-STI program. Further, transferring our proposed 3D
biomimetic models from the engineering laboratory to three research laboratories for the study of sexually
transmitted infections requires consistent biological resources to insure reproducibility and comparability.
Leveraging the expertise and experience of its PI and infrastructure of the Institute for Genome Sciences at the
University fo Maryland School of Medicine, the Omics/Clinical Core C will support this goal and will assemble
and distribute biological resources (primary cell lines and reconstructed microbiota) using consistent protocols
and qualitative evaluation of the materials to Project 1, 2 and 3, as well as the Biomimetic Models Core B. The
overall goal of the Omics/Clinical Core C is to 1/ apply high-throughput omics approaches to samples provided
by each of the project; 2/ provide microbiological (reconstructed microbiota) and primary cell purchase, isolation
and maintenance services; 3/ perform a clinical study to collect cervicovaginal specimens (swabs, secretion and
biopsies) for microbiota characterization, bacterial isolation and primary cell lines isolation; and 4/ disseminate
the data and resources to the rest of the team and ultimately the scientific community through the Open Science
Data Framework (OSDF), an innovative and scalable platform to store data of different types along with their
metadata and create relationships between the different datasets.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10190233
- **Project number:** 1U19AI158930-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE
- **Principal Investigator:** Jacques Ravel
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $221,539
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-04-20 → 2026-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10190233

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10190233, Omics/Clinical Core (1U19AI158930-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10190233. Licensed CC0.

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