Project Grant R01AI200948

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases awarded Montana State University $560,708 on August 18, 2026, under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) to fund research into the pathogenesis of neurobrucellosis.

The award supports a five-year research project through July 31, 2031, examining how Brucella bacteria cross the blood-brain barrier, colonize the brain, and cause neurobrucellosis—the most severe complication of brucella infection in humans. The research employs murine models to test the hypothesis that brucella traffics to the brain within myeloid cells while Type I and Type II interferons perform cell-compartment-specific functions that limit brain colonization. Three specific aims structure the work: determining the relative contribution of interferon signaling in hematopoietic and non-hematopoietic cells to blood-brain barrier integrity and neuroprotection; investigating interferon-gamma-dependent and -independent effects of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells on neurobrucellosis development; and determining whether brucella traffics to the brain within myeloid cells and identifying genes required for brucella to colonize the brain. The project's findings are intended to clarify mechanisms by which interferons and T cells protect against neurobrucellosis and to inform potential therapeutic targeting of interferons or myeloid cell recruitment as complementary treatments.

Performance occurs in Bozeman, Montana.