Federal Project Grant Award Summary

Rutgers The State University of New Jersey (RBHS-School of Nursing) received a $816,524 Project Grant award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) under the Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.847), effective March 1, 2026 through January 31, 2031. The research project investigates the relationship between intestinal Clostridium bacteria capable of 7-dehydroxylation of bile acids and the underlying mechanisms of clinical gallstone disease. The project employs integrated multi-omics and pharmacoepidemiology methodologies, including metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, targeted metabolomics, and genetic sequencing analysis of patient fecal, serum, oral, and urine samples to characterize bacterial communities and their gene expression patterns.

The research deliverables include comparative analysis of 7-dehydroxylation bacterial function across patient populations with inflammatory bowel diseases, asymptomatic gallstones, and symptomatic gallstones requiring surgical intervention, utilizing publicly available datasets and mass spectrometry techniques. This investigation aims to elucidate mechanistic understanding of how specific bacterial taxa and their metabolic functions contribute to gallstone disease pathogenesis—a condition accounting for more abdominal surgical procedures than any other digestive disease—and to identify potential therapeutic targets for this painful metabolic condition.