Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The University of Oregon received a $398,464 Project Grant award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) under the Biomedical Research and Research Training program (CFDA 93.859), effective March 6, 2026, with a completion date of December 31, 2030. This R35 award supports a five-year research initiative focused on developing innovative chemical tools and strategies to modulate reactive sulfur species (RSS), including hydrogen sulfide (H2S), persulfides, polysulfides, and carbonyl sulfide (COS). The research aims to advance the fundamental understanding of H2S and RSS in biological chemistry and redox signaling pathways.

The project deliverables encompass the development of targeted and responsive H2S donor compounds to expand therapeutic applications, creation of new responsive platforms for delivering persistent persulfides with distinct biological activities, deployment of selective RSS scavenger tools, and investigation of emerging opportunities in carbonyl sulfide biological chemistry. Research activities span from mechanism-inspired molecular design through cellular and in vivo applications, integrating both basic science discovery and longer-term therapeutic development. These research outputs are expected to contribute to advances in understanding how small gaseous signaling molecules regulate physiological processes including vascular biology, immune function, and cellular stress responses, with potential implications for disease diagnosis and treatment.