# A Genomics Based Investigation of the Determinants of Polymicrobial Infectious Disease Outcomes

> **NIH NIH U19** · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · 2020 · $3,600,000

## Abstract

The advent of high-throughput genomics and associated technologies have afforded the ability to begin to ask
detailed questions about the biology of whole systems and the interactions of those parts, rather than
examining parts of the system in isolation. This application contains studies that explore the dynamic
interactions between pathogens, hosts, their microbiota and the immune system with the goal to provide a
more comprehensive understanding of the determinants of infectious disease outcomes. Pathogens subvert
host cells by using their gene products to manipulate cellular pathways for survival and replication; in turn, host
cells respond to the invading pathogen through changes in gene expression. Deciphering these complex
temporal and spatial dynamics to identify novel virulence factors or host response pathways is essential for
complete understanding of the infectious disease process. However, even these approaches don't fully take
into account the complexity of the interactions, given that the normal microbiota are also key players in these
interactions. The majority of the members of the normal microbiota exist as mutualists that live in association
with the host without causing disease. Yet, the interactions of a host, its microbiota, and a pathogen in the
context of the host immune response, co-infections, anti-microbial therapies, or vaccines can greatly affect
disease outcome. The integration of the high-throughput technology with the biological question highlights the
evolution of genomics as an area of research from a strictly observational tool of only a few years ago, to being
an integral part in the examination of the disease process and human health as a whole. The genomic
viewpoint is becoming more complete, as we can begin to simultaneously characterize the interactions of host,
pathogen and microbiota. The current application takes a systematic approach to the examination of not just a
single pathogen, or the ecosystem that the pathogen is part of, but examines the impact of the other microbes
and host factors on the infectious disease process. The integration of the data from these complex interactions
is providing the foundation for a deeper understanding of health and disease. This proposal includes a highly
collaborative group of investigators centered within the Institute for Genome Sciences at the University of
Maryland and New York University who are experts in their respective areas of pathogen biology, but also are
pioneers in the field of genomics. We expect that these studies will address major gaps in knowledge related
to the molecular pathogenesis of viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitic pathogens.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9901426
- **Project number:** 5U19AI110820-07
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE
- **Principal Investigator:** CLAIRE M. FRASER
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $3,600,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2014-04-15 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9901426

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9901426, A Genomics Based Investigation of the Determinants of Polymicrobial Infectious Disease Outcomes (5U19AI110820-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9901426. Licensed CC0.

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