Join the Mucosal Immunology Study Team

Apply for a cooperative agreement award to study immune mechanisms and regulation at mucosal surfaces of the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and urogenital tracts. NIAID recently reissued the Mucosal Immunology Studies Team (MIST) (U01, Clinical Trial Not Allowed) funding opportunity announcement (FOA).

Become a MIST Researcher

As a successful awardee, you will join MIST. This team was founded in 2011 to pursue the following primary goals:

• Discover and define novel basic immune mechanisms, cells, mediators, and pathways that provide a more complete understanding of mucosal immune mechanisms.
• Explore innovative hypotheses and address difficult unsolved questions in mucosal immunity.

Your membership gives you a unique opportunity to collaborate on fresh ideas, approaches, and technologies to break new ground in the field.

Application Focus

Your application’s Research Strategy must provide a clear and detailed description of how your planned studies will contribute critical knowledge to advance understanding of mucosal immune mechanisms or address difficult unsolved questions in mucosal immunity.

As you develop your plans, consider the many examples of responsive studies in the Research Objectives and Scope section of the FOA. It details four major areas of interest:

• Mucosal epithelium: barrier, defense, antigen sampling, and immune response orchestration
• Mucosal immunoglobulin and mucosal B cell responses
• Mucosal immunity and inflammation
• Mucosal immune system cross-talk with the nervous system

If your studies will use infectious organisms, vaccines, adjuvants, or mucosal diseases, you must employ them as model agents to probe host mucosal immune responses to discover new information about mechanisms of immunity.

You may propose studies using relevant animal models or human tissues. Be aware that the FOA does not allow clinical research.

Budget, Award Type, and Deadlines

NIAID intends to commit $5.45 million in fiscal year 2021 to fund 8 to 10 awards, including $1 million for an Infrastructure and Opportunities Fund (IOF).

This FOA supports U01 awards, a type of cooperative agreement. That means NIH scientific or program staff will be substantially involved during your award to assist, guide, coordinate, or participate in project activities. Get specifics about NIH staff involvement in Section VI.2 of the FOA.

Your budget and project period should reflect the actual needs and scope of your plans. Follow these limits:

• Request no more than $350,000 in direct costs each year, excluding the IOF budget fund described in the FOA.
• Propose no more than five years of support.

Apply by October 9, 2020. Send your optional letter of intent at least 30 days before the application due date.

Direct your application and scientific questions to Dr. Annette Rothermel, the FOA's scientific/research contact.