Federal Grant Award Summary

The California Institute of Technology received a $711,488 Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855), effective April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2031. The award supports fundamental research to elucidate maintenance metabolism in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an opportunistic pathogen responsible for chronic infections in diabetic ulcers, cystic fibrosis, and other clinical contexts. The research leverages phenazine cycling—redox-active pigment production that enables energy conservation under anaerobic conditions—to understand how biofilm-forming bacteria maintain low metabolic activity while developing antibiotic tolerance, a critical knowledge gap that currently hinders treatment of chronic infections.

The project employs a novel 96-well electrode system to conduct high-throughput studies of phenazine-mediated metabolism under anaerobic conditions, utilizing electrochemical measurements to quantify cellular metabolic rates in non-growing biofilm cells. This research is designed to generate scientific insights into bacterial physiology that may inform the development of therapeutic strategies to overcome antibiotic tolerance in chronic infections, thereby advancing public health outcomes for patients with difficult-to-treat bacterial infections.