# Microbiology and Metagenomics Core

> **NIH NIH P50** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2024 · $156,625

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Microbiology and metagenomics core
The purpose of this core is to facilitate high-throughput characterization of the acne microbiome from clinical
samples of acne patients generated from the Acne Center of Research Translation (CORT), and to advance
analysis of the function of these microbes beyond basic genomic characterization. Next-generation sequencers
have transformed microbiome research but have proven insufficient to understand the biologic relevance of
this microbial genetic information in the skin. The acne microbiome has been partially characterized but
without understanding of how products of these diverse organisms influence the pathophysiology of acne. The
Core Director, Core Associate Director, and staff of this core have extensive experience in the generation and
analysis of metagenomic data and have successfully developed a panel of functional screens to enable
analysis of how target cells respond to the metabolic products of microbe. This requires expertise in the study
of C. acnes, the predominant bacterial species in acne that is anaerobic and fastidious, thus requiring expertise
for isolation and culture. C. acnes produces a range of fermentation metabolites and other products that can
alter host immune responses and the growth of other organisms. This core will produce libraries of bacterial
organisms from the skin, perform metagenomic analysis from skin swabs, and functionally screen libraries for
their capacity to alter the immune response of fibroblasts, keratinocytes and immunocytes relevant to the skin
of acne subjects, and analyze these observations to generate hypothesis for further testing. The core will also
work closely with the transcriptomics core and lipidomic screens at UCLA to further integrate data for validation
and discovery. This ability will transform the utility of the data to members of the CORT.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10913495
- **Project number:** 5P50AR080594-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Richard L Gallo
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $156,625
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-09-01 → 2027-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10913495

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10913495, Microbiology and Metagenomics Core (5P50AR080594-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10913495. Licensed CC0.

---

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