PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT A primary means of research support for investigators in the Center for Microbial Pathogenesis and Host Inflammatory Responses (CMPHIR) in Phase III will be the NIGMS-funded Pilot Grant Program (PGP), supplemented with institutional funds ($100,000 per year for each year) to support a Director's Innovation Fund. The focus will be on identifying new investigators with research interests consistent with the scientific theme of the CMPHIR. Support will be provided for projects that clearly fit within the scientific scope of the CMPHIR, with a particular emphasis on investigators whose research is potentially synergistic with existing CMPHIR investigators, thereby maximizing opportunities for the development of synergistic collaborations. We will also continue the efforts we started in Phase II to support projects that address issues in infectious disease in the most comprehensive fashion possible and one that can be integrated with the experimental foundation built in Phases I and II. Included among specific areas of interest are projects investigating improved diagnostic methods, the development of more effective antimicrobial drugs, the potential to repurpose approved drugs for infectious disease applications, vaccine development, the development of biomaterials with anti-infective properties, and understanding the impact of host comorbidities on the susceptibility to infection and the response to therapeutic intervention. In addition, the PGP and Director's Innovation Fund will be used in support of highly strategic external recruitment by other research units at UAMS recruiting new investigators with research interests consistent with the scientific theme of the CMPHIR. This will allow the CMPHIR to continue to grow and mature into a self-sustaining Center of Biomedical Research Excellence as we move forward into Phase III and beyond.