# Integrative Center for Environmental Microbiomes and Human Health

> **NIH NIH P20** · UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA · 2022 · $1,984,324

## Abstract

Project Summary – OVERALL
The goal of the proposed COBRE program is to create an Integrative Center for Environmental
Microbiomes and Human Health (ICEMHH) in response to the 2016 announcement of the National
Microbiome Initiative (NMI). The NMI was conceived through the recognition that humans are both connected
to and reliant upon the microbial communities that constitute the Earth's microbiomes, in the environment as
well as the human body. The NIH plays a central role in funding this effort, “..with a particular emphasis on
multi-ecosystem comparison studies, and investigation into the design of new tools to explore and understand
microbiomes” [NIH Human Microbiome Project]. The focus of ICEMHH is the interface between the microbial
environment and human health, and spans state-of-the-art `-omics' methods to ecological analyses and
predictive models. The University of Hawaiʻi brings three compelling strengths to microbiome research: the
uniquely tractable and scalable landscape of the Hawaiian Islands, an exceptionally qualified biology faculty,
including an integrated cohort of recently hired, microbiome-focused, tenure-track, junior professors, and a
dedication to the diversity of people that live on the Islands. As the most diverse biome on Earth, Hawaiʻi
offers the opportunity to study the effects of ecological gradients on human health, from mountain to sea, and
in both urban and rural settings. The proposed projects aim to address two critical and intertwined health
problems: the deteriorating environment, and the current spread of insect-vector borne diseases. In this
context, proposed research efforts will (i) explore how human health is impacted by exposure to pathogenic
microbes in the environment; (ii) examine how the microbiomes of insect vectors affect their transmission of
disease within the microcosm of the island of Oʻahu; and, (iii) exploit invertebrate models to provide insight into
the underlying cellular, genetic and molecular mechanisms by which microbiomes confer health. In this way,
the Center will provide lasting contributions to the State of Hawaiʻi, and beyond.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10488594
- **Project number:** 5P20GM125508-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA
- **Principal Investigator:** Anthony Amend
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $1,984,324
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-08-15 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10488594

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10488594, Integrative Center for Environmental Microbiomes and Human Health (5P20GM125508-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10488594. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*