# Laboratory for Combinatorial Drug Regimen Design for Resistant and Emerging Pathogens

> **NIH NIH C06** · TUFTS UNIVERSITY BOSTON · 2022 · $5,147,109

## Abstract

(a) Overview
The past two years have shown that infectious diseases are global threats, revealing an urgent need to improve
preparedness to combat unknown pathogens. Furthermore, the alarming increase in infections caused by
antimicrobial resistant (AMR; see glossary, below) pathogens in recent years, exacerbated by the COVID-19
pandemic, illustrates that we are also on the verge of losing our ability to treat infections caused by known
pathogens. Combination drug treatment is the therapeutic mainstay in the treatment of infections caused by
several microbial pathogens, including HIV and the tuberculosis bacterium. Still, systematic and efficient
development of such treatments for AMR or emerging pathogens is lacking. Tufts University (TU) is proposing
to construct a new biomedical research facility, the Laboratory for Combinatorial Drug Regimen Design for
Resistant and Emerging Pathogens (LCDRD), to design and develop new combinatorial therapeutic approaches
for bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic infections and to accelerate research on AMR and emerging pandemic
pathogens. The LCDRD is designed to facilitate the development of novel treatments for difficult-to-treat
infections due to pathogens from both animals and humans. In addition to generating new therapies for AMR or
emerging pathogens, this facility will provide diverse, well-characterized human bacterial pathogens with linked
clinical data from across ‘Tufts-Medicine’, a state-wide network of hospitals serving diverse populations, for study
by academia and industry. The Stuart B. Levy Tufts Center for Integrative Management of Antimicrobial
Resistance (CIMAR) unites faculty from TU and Tufts Medical Center (TMC), as well as affiliate members from
across the region and nation, with expertise in biomedical research, engineering, human and veterinary
medicine, global health, environmental surveillance, policy, and education, to catalyze the development of new
combinatorial drug strategies to treat a wide range of pathogens. Working with CIMAR in LCDRD will be the
nascent Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases and Response (CEIDAR), which addresses emerging and
expanding infectious disease threats such as insect-borne bacterial and viral pathogens. CEIDAR includes the
Tufts Lyme Initiative and utilizes the BSL-3 level Tufts New England Regional Biosafety Laboratory (NERBL) at
Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in Grafton, an important resource for expanding work. Institutions
affiliated with CIMAR/CEIDAR span a spectrum of academic and pharmaceutical interests and, although located
locally at TU, will enhance transdisciplinary interactions among regional and national investigators and entities.
Project Goals: The LCDRD will enable specialized and collaborative work on emerging and resistant microbial
pathogens that is required to generate new combinatorial treatments. The facility will: 1) enhance interaction
between clinicians and biomedical researchers to generate therapeut...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10596722
- **Project number:** 1C06OD032006-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** TUFTS UNIVERSITY BOSTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Linden T Hu
- **Activity code:** C06 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $5,147,109
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-16 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10596722

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10596722, Laboratory for Combinatorial Drug Regimen Design for Resistant and Emerging Pathogens (1C06OD032006-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-01 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10596722. Licensed CC0.

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