Federal Grant Award Summary

The Johns Hopkins University received a $765,422 Project Grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855), awarded April 17, 2026, with completion targeted for March 31, 2031. This research initiative focuses on systematically studying the mechanisms of antigen diversification in Trypanosoma brucei, a protozoan parasite that causes African trypanosomiasis. The project will utilize optimized targeted high-throughput sequencing methods to characterize the full spectrum of recombination events within variant surface glycoprotein (VSG)-encoding genes, along with CRISPR-Cas9-based methodologies for inducing mosaic VSG formation in vitro.

The research addresses a critical public health challenge in sub-Saharan Africa by investigating how T. brucei extends its antigenic repertoire through segmental gene conversion to generate mosaic VSGs that predominate during chronic infection. By developing and applying these novel molecular tools, Johns Hopkins will conduct the first systematic examination of mosaic VSG formation, advancing scientific understanding of immune evasion mechanisms in extracellular pathogens and potentially informing therapeutic strategies for treating trypanosomiasis. The project will be performed in Baltimore, Maryland.