Federal Grant Award Summary

The University of Colorado-Denver received a $429,000 Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) to conduct research on the contributions of mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells in colitis. The award, obligated on February 25, 2026, with a completion date of January 31, 2028, supports biomedical research aimed at understanding how MAIT cells—a specialized immune cell population highly enriched in mucosal tissues—drive inflammatory responses in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The research addresses a critical gap in therapeutic knowledge by leveraging the CC011/UNC mouse strain, which exhibits spontaneous colitis and notably high levels of MAIT cells, enabling in vivo studies that recapitulate chronic inflammatory features of human IBD. This research has potential implications for identifying novel immune targets to develop more universally effective therapies for managing active IBD regardless of genetic background.

The project will generate research findings on MAIT cell biology, immune mechanisms of colitis, and translational data to inform therapeutic development strategies. By utilizing a relevant mouse model that closely mimics human disease pathology—including colon thickening, ulceration, and lymphocytic infiltration—the research will advance understanding of barrier tissue inflammation and potentially establish MAIT cells as therapeutically tractable targets for IBD management. The University of Colorado-Denver will conduct this research at its Aurora, Colorado facility under the auspices of the NIAID's competitive research program, which prioritizes scientific merit, technical adequacy, investigator qualifications, and public health relevance in its funding decisions.