Project Grant R01AI201850

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases awarded Duke University $684,405 on July 22, 2026, under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) to develop mucosal immunotherapies targeting recurrent urinary tract infections and inflammatory bowel disease.

The funded research advances immunomodulation via self-assembled peptides (ISAP), a platform using modular supramolecular polypeptide nanomaterials designed to elicit neutralizing antibody responses against both microbial and inflammatory targets. The project addresses the current treatment limitation wherein diseases driven by dysregulated microbial and inflammatory processes require separate medications or co-prescription. The research group will engineer mucosally active ISAP variants targeting bacterial virulence factors and inflammatory mediators including cytokines, inflammatory complement components, and phosphorylcholine across two disease models.

Duke University's Office of Research Administration serves as the recipient. The award obligates $684,405 over the performance period July 22, 2026 through June 30, 2031. Work is performed in Durham, North Carolina. The project engages an interdisciplinary research group bridging biomaterial engineering and clinical science to design and optimize integrated, disease-specific therapeutic approaches that address both microbial and inflammatory components synergistically.