# Patient-oriented microbiome and advanced culture approaches to identifying the microbial determinants of chronic pediatric disease

> **NIH NIH K24** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2022 · $107,408

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The goal of this K24 is to provide salary, administrative, and research support for Lucas Hoffman, MD, PhD, to
allow him to spend at least 25% of his time mentoring students, fellows, and junior faculty in patient-oriented
research on the microbial determinants of chronic, pediatric diseases. This proposal will enable Dr. Hoffman to
expand his translational research program, integrate trainees into the program, and provide additional
protected time and resources for mentoring existing and additional trainees specifically in patient-oriented
research as they work on existing translational research projects as well as new projects to emerge from this
ongoing work. The proposal also provides time and infrastructure to help Dr. Hoffman enhance his mentoring
skills, including classwork, new opportunities to interact with trainees, and an oversight committee specifically
focused on this topic. The three ongoing, featured research projects leverage either existing resources (Project
1) or involve face-to-face interactions with patients (Projects 2 and 3) and are yielding novel questions and new
resources for these and future patient-oriented studies, providing optimal opportunities for trainees:
Project 1 investigates the relationship between gastrointestinal (GI) microbiomes of infants with the genetic
disease cystic fibrosis (CF) with growth and other clinical outcomes during the first year of life. This project
builds on our preliminary finding that young children with CF have GI dysbioses that are predicted to impact
intestinal health and inflammation. As infants with CF often fail to grow adequately, and early nutritional
outcomes correlate with overall disease course, identifying the mechanisms of early CF growth failure is an
important and understudied topic. In this study, we are analyzing longitudinal fecal specimens and clinical data
collected as part of a recently completed, multicenter clinical study of CF infant nutrition.
Project 2 is an ongoing, multicenter study of variants of Staphylococcus aureus, the most common bacterial
pathogen most commonly cultured from the respiratory tracts of people with CF. These variants, known as
small-colony variants (SCVs), grow slowly in the laboratory and are not routinely detected by clinical
laboratories. Our preliminary data indicate that SCVs commonly infect children with CF, and that they are
associated with dramatically worse lung disease compared with children without SCVs. We are investigating
the prevalence and clinical associations, as well as molecular mechanisms, of SCV infection in a cohort of
children with CF. This study also collects bacterial isolates, linked data, and other resources for future studies.
Project 3 is an ongoing, multicenter study of sputum microbiomes among children and adults with CF before,
during, and after receiving a month-long treatment with inhaled tobramycin. The microbial determinants of CF
lung disease and clinical responses are well-st...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10400043
- **Project number:** 5K24HL141669-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Lucas R Hoffman
- **Activity code:** K24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $107,408
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-04-22 → 2023-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10400043

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10400043, Patient-oriented microbiome and advanced culture approaches to identifying the microbial determinants of chronic pediatric disease (5K24HL141669-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10400043. Licensed CC0.

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