Federal Grant Award Summary

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center received a $151,136 project grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) under the Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.847). The award, effective April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2031, supports a multi-omic research initiative investigating the relationship between gut microbiome composition and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). The research deliverables include comprehensive metagenomic, metabolomic, and metatranscriptomic analyses designed to identify strain-level microbial signatures, viral determinants, and microbial functional roles associated with MASLD progression.

The project will deliver systematic reviews and meta-analyses of internal and publicly available datasets to characterize harmonized strain-level and viral signatures in the gut microbiome, complemented by analyses of stool samples from the Microbiome Among Nurses (MICRO-N) subcohort and validation through the Human Microbiome and Cardiometabolic Health Consortium. These research products aim to uncover key microbial mechanisms and metabolic pathways contributing to disease etiopathogenesis, ultimately identifying therapeutic targets for microbiome-modulation interventions in MASLD patient populations.