# Center for Modeling Complex Interactons

> **NIH NIH P20** · UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO · 2024 · $293,197

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The parent award for this project is the Center for Modeling Complex Interactions (CMCI), which focuses
on an approach that can be used to address many biomedical problems. This approach is team-based
interdisciplinary research with the goal of integrating modeling into biomedical research projects. CMCI
supports modelers by giving them opportunities to integrate into interdisciplinary teams and empiricists
by providing them access to relevant modeling expertise. This creates a community and a culture to
facilitate interdisciplinary research and enhances the rigor of biomedical research. Following the structure
of CMCI, we will build an interdisciplinary team with a shared scientific interest to understand the time
and space-dependent roles of type I interferon (IFN-I) responses in controlling respiratory viral infection
and limiting inflammation.
The proposed research activities include mathematical and computational approaches that will be
informed and validated by data generated from cell culture infection studies and mouse lung tissue
samples from previous infection studies. An innovative 2D spatiotemporal model of the lung will be built
and visualized in virtual reality. By using a tandem mathematical-experimental approach, we will predict
temporal dynamics of IFN-I (Aim 1) and uncover unforeseen spatial connections in an augmented reality
environment of IFN-I during influenza virus infection (Aim 2).
To develop and evaluate the predictive power of these innovative models, we propose forming an
interdisciplinary collaboration between scientists of the Departments of Biology, Mathematics, and Virtual
Technology and Design at the University of Idaho. The combined expertise in virology, immunology,
mathematics, and virtual technology is critical for addressing the complexity of IFN-I roles during
influenza virus infection. The knowledge gained through this project will lead to the development of
immune-based therapeutics for influenza and other respiratory viral infections. Further, this project will
create a community and a culture to facilitate interdisciplinary research at the University of Idaho.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11047010
- **Project number:** 3P20GM104420-10S2
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO
- **Principal Investigator:** Holly A Wichman
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $293,197
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2015-03-15 → 2026-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11047010

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11047010, Center for Modeling Complex Interactons (3P20GM104420-10S2). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11047010. Licensed CC0.

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