Funding

Active funding announcements:

Duke Microbiome Center Rolling Voucher Program

Duke University has established shared resources that avail state-of-the-art technologies to interrogate microbiome structure and function to Duke investigators.  The Duke Microbiome Center offers a rolling voucher program to provide its investigators access to these shared resources, particularly for microbiome projects that are not yet externally funded.  Eligibility is limited to Duke Microbiome Center faculty and their trainees, and the maximum budget for each DMC faculty member is up to $10,000 within any two-year period.  There is no deadline for these proposals.  For more information, see the program announcement.

Duke Microbiome Center Development Grants

The Duke Microbiome Center (DMC) supports microbiome science at Duke University through pilot project funding.  The DMC is pleased to announce this new request for proposals for DMC Development Grants.  The objective of the DMC Development Grant program is to support interdisciplinary and collaborative research projects in the microbiome sciences at Duke University. For more information, see the program announcement. This RFA will be reissued spring 2025.

  • 2024 Awardees:
    • “The Role of TPL2 Kinase in Antimicrobial Peptide Production and Function” Jason Arnold, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology.
    • “Understanding probiotic gut bacteria-host interactions in aging and longevity” Shuo Han, Departments of Biochemistry, and Molecular Genetics & Microbiology.
    • “Impact of Menstrual Products on the Cervicovaginal Microbiome” Kate Hoffman and Jillian Hurst, Division of Environmental Sciences & Policy and Department of Pediatrics.
    • “The oral microbiome and pulmonary complications of pediatric HCT” Sweta Patel and Sarah Heston, Department of Medicine and Department of Pediatrics.
    • “Regulation of adiposity by Clostridium immunis” Neil Surana, Departments of Pediatrics.
    • “Investigation of crosstalk between skin cells and microbiome” Jennifer Zhang, Department of Dermatology and Pathology.
  • 2023 Awardees:
    • “The Role of TPL2 Kinase in Antimicrobial Peptide Production and Function” Jatin Roper, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology Department of Cell Biology Duke University School of Medicine
  • 2022 Awardees:
    • “A new mouse model to study microbial contributions to pediatric diet-induced obesity” John Rawls, PhD (Molecular Genetics & Microbiology)
  • 2021 Awardees:

    • “Bariatric Surgery- and GLP-1-Induced Microbiome Changes in Asthma and Obesity“, Jennifer Ingram, PhD (Medicine); Claudia Gunsch, PhD (Co-Investigator – Civil & Environmental Engineering)
    • “Nasopharynx-on-a-Chip: An Innovative Model to Study the Pediatric Respiratory Microbiome“, Matthew Kelly, MD MPH (Pediatrics); Shyni Varghese, PhD (Co-Investigator – Biomedical Engineering)
    • “Gut Microbial Contributions to Fallback-Food Ecology: Lemurs as a Test Case“, Anne Yoder, PhD (Biology); Lawrence David (Co-Investigator – Molecular Genetics & Microbiology)
  • 2020 Awardees:

    • “Childhood Obesity and Gut Microbial Signatures of Dietary Change”, Lawrence David, PhD (Molecular Genetics & Microbiology)
    • “Reciprocal Interactions between Nociceptive Sensory Neurons and the Host Microbiome”, Ru-Rong Ji, PhD (Anesthesiology)
  • 2019 Awardees:

    • “Validating organoid models to illuminate mechanisms of host-microbe interactions”, Neil Surana, MD, PhD (Pediatrics); Xiling Shen, PhD (Biomedical Engineering)
      “The Pancreatic Microbiome and Cancer Progression in Cystic Precursor Lesions of the Pancreas”, Peter Allen (Surgery); Matthew Kelly (Pediatrics)

Previous funding announcements:

Duke Microbiome Center – Triangle Center for Evolutionary Medicine Graduate Student Awards

The Duke Microbiome Center (DMC) and the Triangle Center for Evolutionary Medicine (TriCEM) are partnering to support research conducted by graduate students at Duke University. Graduate Student Awards provide one year of funding for Ph.D. students to pursue research in evolutionary medicine. We are especially interested in proposals that connect microbiome research to any of the four Research Tracks in TriCEM – pathogenic organisms, cancer, brain sciences, and social & biological determinants of health – or that engage with One Health research at the intersection of humans, animals, and the environment. For more information including application instructions, see the program announcement or download a PDF of the RFA here. This RFA is currently closed.

  • Spring 2024 Awardees:
    • Ammara Aqeel (laboratory of Dr. Lawrence David, Department of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology) “Impact of Deforestation on Dietary Resilience and Microbiome Health”
    • Angela Jones (laboratory of Dr. Dennis Ko, Department of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology)  “Evolutionary Pressures on Sex-Biased Genes and Disease-Associated Variants”
    • Julian Liber (laboratory of Dr. Sheng-Yang He, Department of Biology) “Enhancing Pathogen Biocontrol in the Yeast Aureobasidium pullulans”
    • Samantha Phelps (laboratory of Dr. Nishad Jayasundara, Nicholas School of the Environment)  “Investigating the Role of the Microbiome in Resistance to PAH Exposure”
    • Julia Slack (laboratory of Dr. Tara Albrecht, School of Nursing) “The Oral Microbiome and Fatigue in People with Breast Cancer Receiving Chemotherapy”
    • Amanda Wilson (laboratory of Dr. Francois Lutzoni, Department of Biology) “Elucidating the Cryptic Dispersal Mechanisms of Fungal Endophytes”

Duke Child Health Discovery Initiative – Duke Microbiome Center Joint Partnership Development Grant

The early stages of life are critically important for human health throughout the lifespan and also for assembly and activity of the microbiome. Understanding the associations and interactions between microbiomes and their hosts during early life stages is therefore an important area of research. The Duke Microbiome Center (DMC) is partnering with the Duke Children’s Health and Discovery Initiative (CHDI) to offer a CHDI-DMC Joint Partnership Development Grant. The objective is to support interdisciplinary and collaborative research projects at the intersection of child health and the microbiome sciences at Duke University. For more information, see the program announcement. The deadline for proposals to this RFA is TBD.

  •  2023 Awardees:
    • “Characterizing the nasopharyngeal resistome of children living with HIV in Botswana” Dr. Sweta Patel, Assistant Professor of Medicine-Pulmonary

Duke Cancer Institute / Duke Microbiome Center Joint Partnership Pilot Award

The Duke Cancer Institute (DCI) and Duke Microbiome Center (DMC) are collaborating to award one development grant at the intersection of cancer and the microbiome. All requirements for this award are identical to the DCI’s Translational and/or Collaborative Research 2022 Spring Pilot RFA with the additional requirements that (a) the PI or one of the co-PIs must also be a member of the DMC, (b) the project must support interdisciplinary and collaborative research projects in cancer and the microbiome sciences at Duke University, and (c) the research strategy document must state “DCI/DMC collaborative award” after the title. This award is being advertised through both the DCI and DMC and the review committee will include members of both the DCI and DMC.  This funding announcement is currently closed.

  • 2022 Awardee
    • “Predicting the role of microbiome metabolites in immunotherapy” Daniel Reker (Biomedical  Engineering) Co-PI Smita K. Nair, Ph.D. (Medicine)

Duke Center for AIDS Research / Duke Microbiome Center Joint Partnership Pilot Award

The purpose of this funding opportunity is to support research aimed at elucidating the interplay between the microbiome and immune responses relevant to HIV-1, AIDS, or AIDS-related opportunistic infections and malignancies. The funding opportunity is a joint partnership between the Duke University Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) and the Duke Microbiome Center (DMC) and is intended to foster new inter-center collaborations. This funding announcement is currently closed.

  • 2021 Awardee:

    • “Determining the Role of the Gut Microbiota in HIV Acquisition”, Neil Surana, MD PhD (Pediatrics)

Duke Microbiome Center COVID-19 Development Grant

The Duke Microbiome Center (DMC) supports microbiome science at Duke University through pilot project funding. The DMC is pleased to announce an urgent new request for proposals for DMC COVID-19 Development Grants. The objective of the DMC Development Grant program is to support research projects that address the microbiome and COVID-19. For more information, see the program announcement. This funding announcement is currently closed.

  • 2020 Awardees:

    • “Probiotics To Eliminate COVID-19 Transmission in Exposed Household Contacts”, Anthony Sung, MD (Medicine) and Paul Wischmeyer, MD (Anesthesiology)
    • “Impact of the Gut and Respiratory Microbiota on Susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 in Children”, Matthew Kelly, MD MPH (Pediatrics)

Grants-In-Aid for Microbiome Science

Microbial communities (microbiomes) are known to contribute significantly to human health and disease, regulate global biogeochemistry, and harbor much of our planet’s genetic diversity.  The goal of this RFP is to support Duke faculty who want to pursue microbiome research in the context of their broader research programs.  This RFP is focused on discovery science and not intended to supplement ongoing funded microbiome research efforts.  Priority will be given (1) to applications which are exploratory in nature and for which support is difficult or impossible to obtain; (2) to junior members of the faculty or staff who, by reason of their being earlier in their careers, find it difficult to obtain research support; and (3) to teams of investigators representing multiple scientific disciplines. All Duke University faculty and staff are eligible, and the maximum budget is $20,000. For more information, see the program announcement.  This funding announcement is currently closed.

  • 2018 Awardees:

    • “Microbial recognition from gut to brain”, Diego Bohórquez, PhD (Medicine)
    • “Extreme metabolism in primates: A comparative study of the gut microbiome and metabolome across active and hibernating lemurs”, Marina Blanco, PhD (Duke Lemur Center)

Grants-In-Aid for Microbiome Bioinformatic Analysis

In 2016 and 2017, the Center for the Genomics of Microbial Systems (GeMS) announced a request for proposals for Grants-In-Aid for Microbiome Bioinformatic Analysis. The primary goal of this RFP is to support Duke faculty who want to pursue microbiome research in the context of their broader research programs. The secondary goal of this RFP is to promote use of core facility services for microbiome bioinformatics available in the Duke Genomic Analysis and Bioinformatics Core Facility through a partnership between GeMS and the Duke Center for Genomic and Computational Biology. This RFP is focused on discovery science and not intended to supplement ongoing funded microbiome research efforts. Priority is given to applications which are exploratory in nature and for which support is difficult or impossible to obtain, and to junior members of the faculty or staff who, by reason of their being earlier in their careers, find it difficult to obtain research support.  The awardees in 2016 and 2017 are listed below.

  • 2017 Awardees:

    • “Epithelial-associated and luminal microbiota linked to inflammatory bowel disease involving the small intestine”, Gianna Hammer, PhD (Immunology)
    • “Impacts of exposures to semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in indoor environments on the gut microbiomes of toddlers”, Heather Stapleton, PhD (Nicholas School of the Environment)
    • “Unraveling the intestinal microbiome’s impact on clinical responses to PD-1/PD-L1 inhibition in patients with genitourinary cancers”, Tian Zhang, MD and Andrew Armstrong, MD (Medicine – Division of Medical Oncology)
  • 2016 Awardees:

    • “In sickness and in health: Effects of lemur microbiomes on condition-dependent olfactory signals and other biomarkers of wellness”, Christine Drea, PhD (Evolutionary Anthropology)
    • “Characterizing Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Oceans (CARGO)”, Claudia Gunsch, PhD (Civil and Environmental Engineering)
    • “Examining the association between the intestinal microbiota, plasma biomarkers, and acute graft-versus-host disease in pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients”, Matthew Kelly, MD MPH (Pediatric Infectious Diseases)
    • “Impact of Enterococcal Domination on the Development of Enterococcal Bloodstream Infection in Patients with Hematologic Malignancy”, Julia Messina, MD MSc (Medicine), Nelson Chao MD (Medicine), Anthony Sung, MD (Medicine).
    • “The Microbiome of Cutaneous Scar Formation”, Jennifer Powers, MD (Dermatology)

Collaborative pilot projects in the role of complex microbial communities in environmental and human health

In September 2013, the Center for the Genomics of Microbial Systems (GeMS), in conjunction with the Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (IGSP) announced a call for proposals for high risk/high impact research in the area of the genomics of complex microbial systems. Priority was given to groups of two or more Duke University investigators who will jointly pursue new lines of research. The following five projects were selected for pilot funding:

  1. “The human microbiome, antigenome, and autoimmunity”, Patrick Seed, MD, PhD (Pediatrics)
  2. “Developing methods for genetic analysis in intractable commensal gut bacteria”, John Rawls, PhD (MGM), Timothy Reddy, PhD (Biostatistcs and Bioinformatics)
  3. “Microbes and mines: Community-wide genomic and transcriptomic responses to environmental contamination and implications for environmental health”, Emily Bernhardt, PhD (Biology), Rytas Vilgalys, PhD (Biology), Jennifer Wernergreen, PhD (Nicholas School of the Environment)
  4. “Single-parasite sequencing to identify sex determinants among mating populations of Plasmodium falciparum”, Jen-Tsan Ashley Chi, MD, PhD (MGM), Joseph Heitman, MD, PhD (MGM)
  5. “Measurement and manipulation of environmental oxygen and the human gut microbiome”, Lawrence David, PhD (MGM), Marc Deshusses, PhD (Civil and Environmental Engineering)

For additional federal and foundation funding opportunities please visit the Duke University Funding Opportunities website.