# The Michigan Infectious Disease Genomics (MIDGE) Center

> **NIH NIH U19** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2024 · $6,233,451

## Abstract

Project Summary – Overall
The advent of genomic sequencing technologies has revolutionized our understanding of disease transmission,
pathogen evolution, drug resistance, and virulence. Pathogens can quickly adapt to new environments and
treatments, making it critical to understand the underlying genetic changes that drive this process. The proposed
Michigan Infectious Disease Genomics (MIDGE) Center will feature four projects, each focused on a group of
pathogens, unified by a common theme of identifying pathogen determinants of epidemic success and by a
common approach that combines genomic surveillance, functional genomics, and high-throughput phenotyping
assays. Project 1 examines the genomic determinants of epidemic success in SARS-CoV-2, RSV, and influenza
viruses. Here, epidemic success is linked to the virus’s ability to transmit and spread within an immune population
through mutations that either increase intrinsic transmissibility or allow for escape from neutralizing antibodies.
Project 2 investigates the impact of genetic background on the emergence and spread of carbapenem-resistant
Enterobacteriales, where epidemic success is linked not only to drug resistance genes and mutations but also
to the genetic background on which they arise. Project 3 will define genetic and genomic determinants of
colonization in Candida auris, an emerging fungal pathogen. The key to the epidemic success of C. auris appears
to be its remarkable ability to adhere to and colonize the skin and the built environment, and this project will
leverage whole genome sequencing, microbial GWAS, and functional genomic screens to identify the genetic
circuitry for this trait. Project 4 uses functional genomic approaches to understand the virulence of epidemic
strains of Toxoplasma gondii, which are more common in South America and cause a distinct disease from that
associated with other globally dispersed lineages. Genomic surveillance of scat from wild cats will be used to
further define the diversity of potentially epidemic, hypervirulent strains in this region. A Technical and Data Core
will support the work of all four projects with staff bioinformaticians and research data analysts as well as
Investigators with expertise in phylogenetics, high-throughput phenotyping assays, and analysis of complex data
sets. The Administrative Core will leverage local strengths in training and outreach and provide an infrastructure
for regulatory compliance, financial reporting, and data and resource sharing. Through successful execution of
this research plan, the MIDGE Center will develop genomic methods and protocols to study infectious diseases
and will advance genomics more broadly in basic and clinical research across viral, bacterial, fungal, and
parasitic pathogens.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10852054
- **Project number:** 1U19AI181767-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Adam Lauring
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $6,233,451
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-06-14 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10852054

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10852054, The Michigan Infectious Disease Genomics (MIDGE) Center (1U19AI181767-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-01 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10852054. Licensed CC0.

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