Provide Input on Radiation Exposure and Microbiome for Targeted Therapeutics

NIAID requests input from the radiation biology and microbiome research communities on the science of the interplay between radiation exposure and the microbiome. This includes the impact of radiation on microbiome niches in the human body, microbiome signatures that may predict susceptibility or resilience to radiation injury, and microbiota-based/targeted radiation medical countermeasures (MCMs).

We will use the information obtained from the request for information (RFI) Inviting Comments and Suggestions on the Impact of Radiation Exposure From a Radiological or Nuclear Incident on the Microbiome and the Development of Targeted Therapeutics to develop recommendations for future programs supporting effective radiation MCMs or identification of biomarkers and biodosimetry tools using the microbiome.

Ultimately, NIAID aims to foster a deeper understanding of the microbiome’s role in radiation pathogenesis, exposure, protection, and mitigation assessment following radiation exposure. 

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Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Research on microbial changes following radiation exposure that could be used as biomarkers of injury/biodosimeters
• Studies of differing microbiomes in strains and species linked to susceptibility or resistance to radiation injury
• Model development to study effects of radiation exposure on the microbiota located across the body of interest for a public health emergency (e.g., gastrointestinal tract, oral mucosa, lung, skin)
• Developing MCMs that target the microbiome to prevent or mitigate radiation injury when administered at least 24 hours post-irradiation

How To Submit a Response

Submit your responses to Dr. Andrea DiCarlo-Cohen at cohena@niaid.nih.gov by August 15, 2021.

Remember to limit your response to two pages and send it as a Word or PDF attachment. Do not include proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information.