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Department of Microbiology and Immunology: Center for Microbial Pathogenesis and Host Inflammatory Responses
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Pilot Projects

The UAMS Center for Microbial Pathogenesis and Host Inflammatory Responses (CMPHIR) recently awarded $300,000 to four UAMS faculty members in the form of laboratory start-up support and pilot projects.

The Center was established in 2012 with a five-year, $10 million award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). Now in Phase II and another five years, the CMPHIR was awarded over $11 million from the NIGMS to continue its mission to champion new investigators endeavoring in infectious disease research.

The overall goal of the center is to promote infectious disease research with an emphasis on understanding the important role of the host response in the pathogenesis of all forms of infectious disease. The center now funds 4 primary research projects at a level commensurate with an NIH R01, and recently awarded an additional the additional $300,000 to bring the total number of CMPHIR-funded investigators to fifteen.

Current Funded Pilot Projects:

  1. PILOT PROJECT LEADER: Daniel Voth, Ph.D., Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine
    TITLE: Characterization of the human lung response to pulmonary bacterial pathogens
  2. COLLABORATIVE PILOT PROJECT LEADERS: Craig Forrest, Ph.D. and Jason Stumhofer, Ph.D., Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine
    TITLE: Defining cellular origins of latent gammaherpesvirus infection

Previous Pilot Grants:

  • PILOT PROJECT LEADER: Joshua Kennedy, M.D., Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine
    TITLE: Mechanisms for Rhinovirus (RV)-induced airway hyper-responsiveness (AHR) in human lung
  • PILOT PROJECT LEADER: Julia Liu, Ph.D., Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, College of Medicine
    TITLE: Microbial induced intestinal epithelial cell pyroptosis and barrier dysfunction
  • PILOT PROJECT LEADER: Daniel Voth, Ph.D., Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine
    TITLE: Characterization of the human lung response to pulmonary bacterial pathogens
  • PILOT PROJECT LEADER: Jon Blevins, Ph.D., Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine
    TITLE: Global gene regulation and virulence determinants of relapsing fever spirochetes
  • PILOT PROJECT LEADER: Aime T. Franco, Ph.D., Department of Physiology and Biophysics, College of Medicine
    TITLE: Extragastric pathogenesis of Helicobacter pylori
  • PILOT PROJECT LEADER: Snehalata Pawar, Ph.D., Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences-Radiation Health, College of Medicine
    TITLE: Role of C/EBP delta in radiation-induced inflammatory sepsis
  • PILOT PROJECT LEADER: Dana Gaddy, Ph.D., Department of Physiology and Biophysics, College of Medicine
    TITLE: Synovial and local bone responses to implant-associated S. aureus infection in os
  • PILOT PROJECT LEADER: Wayne Gray, Ph.D., Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine
    TITLE: Evaluation of a Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV) Vaccine Expressing West Nile Virus Antigen in a Guinea Pig Mode

For more information, contact Mark S. Smeltzer, Ph.D., at smeltzermarks@uams.edu or 686-7958.

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Mailing Address: 4301 West Markham Street, Little Rock, AR 72205
Phone: (501) 686-7000
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