NIH awards grants in second phase of microbiome project

The NIH awarded three grants under the second phase of the Human Microbiome Project (HMP), which is focused on studying the biochemical activities of human microbial communities and how they influence an individual's physiology. NIH will fund the projects for three years, with an initial $2.5 million in funding per project for FY13. NIH expects the budget for the three projects to be $22.1 million in total over the three years. The funding will supplement funding from NIH's institutes, which invested about $180 million in microbiome research in 2012 (see BioCentury This Week, Aug. 11).

The awards include a joint project between Stanford University and Washington University that will examine microbes in the gut and nose to determine how changes may trigger the development of diseases. A second joint project between The Broad Institute and Harvard University's School of Public Health will assess the populations and physiological activities of gut microbes in people with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. With the third award, Virginia Commonwealth University will study the roles vaginal bacteria play in the health and disease of pregnant women and their babies. ...