This federal Project Grant award for $915,924 was provided by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) under the Cardiovascular Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.837). The grant supports research by Childrens Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio to investigate how disruptions in the development of lung-resident immune cells and lung epithelial cells, driven by early-life microbial dysbiosis, contribute to poor respiratory health and chronic lung disease beyond infancy. The key objectives are to: 1) Elucidate how commensal microbiota colonization during the perinatal period programs the accrual, function, and long-term fate of lung-resident CD8+ T cells, which are critical for respiratory immunity (Theme 1: Resistance); 2) Characterize how dysbiosis reprograms the regenerative pathways in the alveolar epithelial cells (Theme 2: Resilience); and 3) Explore the therapeutic potential of specific microbial taxa to mitigate these deficits and decrease severe lower respiratory tract infections in infancy (Theme 3: Remediation). This award spans the period from March 2025 to February 2032, with the goal of developing novel microbiome-based strategies to support lung health trajectories.
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