The Vermont Center for Immunology and Infectious Diseases (VCIID) COBRE is about to enter its 10th year. During this period, VCIID has grown from 9 founding faculty to 25 and produced 416 publications and $92 million in grant support and 14 patents. Twelve junior faculty were supported with COBRE funding during Phases I and II (10 tenure track and 5 have already achieved tenure) and they published 118 papers and garnered $13.2 million in funding (including 4 new R01 grants) while still junior faculty. Junior faculty also received several awards, including a Pew Scholars Award. Institutional support from the University of Vermont (UVM) during this period was also a robust $2.9 million. The VCIID has demonstrated its development into a mature collaborative center by a variety of metrics. Its faculty has received a P01 Program Project Grant and a T32 Training Grant, both of which were renewed. One of the former junior faculties has established the Vaccine Testing Center (VTC) as a clinical trials wing of the VCIID. It is currently conducting trials for a new dengue virus vaccine with NIAID funding, and examining why undernourished children in Bangladesh do not respond to polio virus with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. To date VTC has received $18.5 million in funding. To fulfill a growing need for a BSL3 facility for VCIID faculty, we were economically innovative by leveraging a COBRE ARRA supplement to support a collaborative venture with the Vermont Department of Health in which UVM donated land on the UVM campus to build a new Department of Health laboratory containing a large joint BSL3/ABSL3 facility paid and maintained by the Department of Health. This will also foster interactions between VCIID investigators and Department of Health staff, and hence move us into the realm of public health. As we approach Phase III we will motivate VCIID faculty through a Pilot project Program to collaborate on common research themes to prepare for new collaborative R01, P01 and U-19 applications, as well as to move their research in a translational and entrepreneurial direction with our new SPARK-VT Program. Our cores in Genome Technologies/Bioinformatics and Mass Spectrometry/Proteomics have both upgraded instrumentation during Phase II and diversified their user base. Combined with institutional commitments for five years beyond the end of Phase III, we feel we have achieved the metrics to begin a successful Phase III COBRE period.

Public Health Relevance

We are continually reminded of the presence of emerging as well as re-emerging infectious diseases. The past few years have witnessed outbreaks around the world of polio, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, virulent avian influenza, and Ebola. Closer to home, the U.S. has experienced new cases of dengue, chinkungunya, and measles viruses. In response to this, the Vermont Center for Immunology and Infectious Diseases (VCIID) COBRE focuses on the full spectrum of viral, bacterial, and parasitic infections, as well as the host immune response to these pathogens. During our nearly ten years of its existence, VCIID investigators have expanded their basic research into the clinical area with the Vaccine Testing Center and moved their discoveries into diagnostics and therapeutics.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Center Core Grants (P30)
Project #
1P30GM118228-01
Application #
9073009
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZGM1-RCB-3 (C3))
Program Officer
Canto, Maria Teresa
Project Start
2016-08-05
Project End
2021-07-31
Budget Start
2016-08-05
Budget End
2017-07-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
$1,157,709
Indirect Cost
$408,988
Name
University of Vermont & St Agric College
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
066811191
City
Burlington
State
VT
Country
United States
Zip Code
05405
Moon, Thomas M; Sheehe, Jessica L; Nukareddy, Praveena et al. (2018) An N-terminally truncated form of cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase I? (PKG I?) is monomeric and autoinhibited and provides a model for activation. J Biol Chem 293:7916-7929
Willsey, Graham G; Ventrone, Sebastian; Schutz, Kristin C et al. (2018) Pulmonary Surfactant Promotes Virulence Gene Expression and Biofilm Formation in Klebsiella pneumoniae. Infect Immun 86:
Secinaro, Michael A; Fortner, Karen A; Dienz, Oliver et al. (2018) Glycolysis promotes caspase-3 activation in lipid rafts in T cells. Cell Death Dis 9:62
King, Benjamin R; Samacoits, Aubin; Eisenhauer, Philip L et al. (2018) Visualization of Arenavirus RNA Species in Individual Cells by Single-Molecule Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization Suggests a Model of Cyclical Infection and Clearance during Persistence. J Virol 92:
Ziegler, Christopher M; Bruce, Emily A; Kelly, Jamie A et al. (2018) The use of novel epitope-tagged arenaviruses reveals that Rab5c-positive endosomal membranes are targeted by the LCMV matrix protein. J Gen Virol 99:187-193
Lee, Benjamin; Dickson, Dorothy M; deCamp, Allan C et al. (2018) Histo-Blood Group Antigen Phenotype Determines Susceptibility to Genotype-Specific Rotavirus Infections and Impacts Measures of Rotavirus Vaccine Efficacy. J Infect Dis 217:1399-1407
Thornton, Tina M; Hare, Brendan; ColiƩ, Sandra et al. (2018) Failure to Inactivate Nuclear GSK3? by Ser389-Phosphorylation Leads to Focal Neuronal Death and Prolonged Fear Response. Neuropsychopharmacology 43:393-405
Thwe, Phyu M; Amiel, Eyal (2018) Analysis of glycogen metabolic pathway utilization by dendritic cells and T cells using custom phenotype metabolic assays. J Immunol Methods 458:53-57
Eckstrom, Korin; Willsey, Graham G; LiPuma, John J et al. (2018) Draft Genome Sequences of Two Cystic Fibrosis Strains of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, AU30115 and AU32848. Microbiol Resour Announc 7:
English, Erika L; Schutz, Kristin C; Willsey, Graham G et al. (2018) Transcriptional Responses of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to Potable Water and Freshwater. Appl Environ Microbiol 84:

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