Grant Announcement: Fecal Microbiome Transplantation

We are pleased to announce the following request for applications related to clinical studies of fecal microbiome transplantation.

The Department of Medicine, UPMC, the Division of Infectious Diseases, and the Center for Medicine and the Microbiome are issuing a request for applications for pilot projects in clinical applications of fecal microbiome transplantation (FMT).  The FMT Program at the University of Pittsburgh was established in 2013 and includes a specialized C. difficile/FMT clinic and a dedicated stool processing laboratory. FMTs for patients with recurrent C.difficile infections have been performed via naso-duodenal tube or entero-/colonoscopy; additionally, a new protocol for oral administration of freeze-dried capsules has been developed. The current award is intended to support innovative preliminary studies in bringing FMT to the bedside for other indications and to open new areas for critical research.  The program will support 4 grants of $50,000 each for a period of one year.

University of Pittsburgh faculty members at the levels of instructor, assistant/research assistant professor, associate/research associate professor, and professor/research professor are eligible to apply as principal investigators.  Proposed projects must have a clinical component and PhD applicants should partner with an MD for input on clinical studies.  Projects need to include a proposal to perform a clinical FMT study.  Applicants are encouraged to consult with the FMT Program and the Center for Medicine and the Microbiome prior to submission of their proposals. An IND for non-C.difficile related FMT can be submitted with the assistance from the Infectious Diseases Division.  Required components of the application are below.  Completed applications can be emailed to Amy Flaugh at flaughar@upmc.edu by September 5, 2017.  A committee will review each submitted application and determine which FMT clinical research trials should move forward.  Applicants will be notified of the outcome of review by October 6 with project initiation by November 1, 2017.

Application requirements:

  1. Specific aims (1 page)
  2. Research proposal (4 pages) to include background/significance, methods and trial design, analyses, and future plans
  3. References (no limit)
  4. Biosketch for the PI(s) and co-investigators
  5. One-year, $50,000 budget with justification

2016 Microbiome Retreat

The Center’s first Microbiome Retreat, held on June 30, 2016, was a great success!    In addition to posters, the retreat featured the following keynote presentations and workshops:

Keynote Presentations

“Causes and consequences of our gut microbial differences” – Dr. Federico Rey, PhD

“Lessons from building a microbiome center” – Vince Young, MD, PhD

Workshops

Gnotobiotic Workshop
Analytics Workshop
Clinical/Translational Workshop
Sequencing Workshop
Metabolomics Workshop