Project Grant K01AI202988

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases awarded Rhode Island Hospital $195,475 on September 1, 2026, under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) to advance understanding of the physiological mechanisms by which infections contribute to stunting and wasting in young children and to support career development of the principal investigator.

The research leverages well-characterized samples and clinical data from a completed NIH-funded randomized, controlled Phase II trial of praziquantel treatment in 354 children under age four with Schistosoma mansoni infection in the Lake Albert region of Uganda. The project investigates the mechanistic role of intestinal schistosomiasis in the pathogenesis of undernutrition, with focus on environmental enteric dysfunction, malabsorption, and systemic immune activation as drivers of schistosomiasis-related morbidities including undernutrition, anemia of inflammation, and linear growth stunting. Understanding these mechanisms will identify early intervention opportunities to reduce infection-related morbidities in young children in low- and middle-income countries.

Rhode Island Hospital, a division of Lifespan Corporation and an affiliate of Brown University, serves as the recipient. Place of performance is Providence, Rhode Island. The period of performance runs from September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2031. This is a Project Grant, classified as assistance funding.