Find Funding To Help Increase Understanding of Protozoan Pathogens

Through the new funding opportunity announcement (FOA) Identification and Characterization of Persistence Mechanisms of Select Protozoan Pathogens (R01, Clinical Trial Not Allowed), NIAID aims to support basic and preclinical research to characterize persister stages in selected protozoan infections. Consider applying if your scientific expertise can expand our understanding of protozoan parasite persistence mechanisms and provide research tools and strategies to enable identifying and credentialing novel treatments for persistent protozoan pathogens.

The FOA specifies our interest in the following pathogens and lifecycle stages:

• Hypnozoite stage of Plasmodium vivax, P. ovale, and P. cynomolgi
• Bradyzoite stage of Toxoplasma gondii
• Amastigote stages of Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania spp.
• Pseudocyst stage of Trichomonas vaginalis

See the FOA for explanations of why we view each of those pathogens and lifecycle stages as especially critical for further research.

For each pathogen, priority research areas include:

• Identifying host environmental signals or triggers for protozoan entry into or exit from metabolically quiescent states
• Identifying the parasitic mechanisms for entry into, maintenance of, and exit from metabolically quiescent states
• Discovering diagnostics and biomarkers for persister stages
• Developing appropriate, experimentally tractable in vitro and in vivo models of persister infection
• Identifying potential druggable targets during quiescent states or approaches to break dormancy

NIAID will not review applications focused on parasites or parasite developmental stages other than those identified above.

Administrative Details

Your budget request is limited to $500,000 in annual direct costs and must reflect the actual needs of your proposed research. The maximum project period is five years.

The deadline to apply is February 8, 2022, and optional Letters of Intent are due one month earlier, on January 8, 2022.

Note that your application will use the new FORMS-G application package, not FORMS-F. Key aspects of the FORMS-G form set are described at G.120—Significant Changes.

Direct questions about the initiative to Dr. John Pesce at john.pesce@nih.gov or 240-627-3343 and peer review to Dr. Noton Dutta at noton.dutta@nih.gov or 240-669-2857.