NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has earmarked $12 million in fiscal 2019 to establish new research centers that will generate genomic resources and tools for infectious disease research.
In 2014, the NIAID launched the first Genomic Centers for Infectious Diseases (GCID), which were tasked with developing high-throughput sequencing approaches to study the biology of infectious diseases and looking into the interactions between the pathogen and the host.
With the new grant, the NIAID is aiming to fund two to three new GCIDs to create large-scale genomic resources, including sequencing and experimental data, that will be made publicly accessible to the infectious disease research community. The new centers will also help develop sequencing and functional genomic technologies, as well as related bioinformatic tools, for infectious disease research, the agency said.
The new centers will be expected to not only provide insights into the biology of microbes, their role in pathogenesis, and their interactions with the host including the microbiome, but also support research with clinical or translational applicability, the NIAID added. GCID members will also examine genetic variations in human pathogens and across the human genome to identify genetic associations with observable phenotypes in the pathogen and in the human host.
Additional details about the funding opportunity can be found here.