Federal Project Grant Award Summary

Cornell University received a $196,250 Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855), effective May 6, 2026, with a completion date of April 30, 2028. The award supports research into hierarchical gene regulatory networks controlled by the hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone in the fruit fly model organism Drosophila melanogaster. The research deliverables include transcriptomic profiling, computational analysis of gene regulation, and direct assays of DNA-binding patterns to distinguish primary-level hormone-regulated genes from secondary-level genes regulated by transcription factors. This integrated approach addresses the current scientific limitation of relying solely on transcriptomic data to understand how pleiotropic hormones regulate distinct physiological processes.

The project focuses on deciphering 20-hydroxyecdysone's role in both developmental processes and immune system regulation through an ex vivo tissue assay to construct the complete gene-regulatory network and experimental bacterial infections to validate findings in an immunological context. Outcomes of this research will advance understanding of how modest differences at the primary regulatory level can generate larger, functionally specialized differences at secondary regulatory levels, with potential applications to understanding hormone-mediated trade-offs in immune function and development across biological systems.