Federal Grant Award Summary

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) awarded Magee-Womens Research Institute and Foundation a $681,020 Project Grant on June 15, 2026, under the Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866) to conduct biomedical research investigating the microbial regulation of type 2 immunity in ovarian tissue remodeling and fibrosis. The research will be conducted in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with a completion date of February 28, 2031. The primary deliverables include scientific research services examining how gut microbiota established during critical early-life windows program immune circuits that determine ovarian aging trajectories, with specific focus on characterizing the role of interleukin-33 (IL-33) signaling in pathological tissue fibrosis and identifying microbiota-targeted interventions to preserve reproductive function.

The project encompasses three specific research aims: determining whether stromal or oocyte IL-33 drives fibrosis, defining the immune cascade mediating IL-33-driven fibrosis through single-cell immune profiling, and validating microbiota-targeted interventions to reverse premature reproductive aging. The research challenges the conventional understanding that reproductive decline is inevitable, instead establishing that reproductive aging is environmentally modifiable through immune circuit calibration. Expected outcomes include identification of fundamental mechanisms by which environmental factors program aging-related tissue dysfunction, with potential implications for addressing early menopause, reproductive aging, and associated systemic health complications affecting millions of women.