During Phase I of the Center, UAMS was awarded a $10 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to strengthen its microbiology and immunology research program by establishing a Center for Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) Center for Microbial Pathogenesis and Host Inflammatory Responses (CMPHIR). The federal funding supports the work of young investigators focused on studying how microbial pathogens interact with the human body to cause disease. Now in Phase II, the Center was awarded another $11 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to further this program.