Program:  The purpose of this solicitation is to invite pre-applications from assistant professor level infectious disease researchers at UM and UMMC to be considered for institutional nomination for the Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease (PATH) program, sponsored by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.

One-page research abstracts (template attached) are solicited for institutional consideration from assistant professors at UM or UMMC studying the pathogenesis of infectious disease. Pre-applications should propose projects that "shed light on what happens at the points where human and microbial systems connect,” and that “open up unexplored areas.”  The program gives recipients the freedom and flexibility to pursue high-risk projects and new avenues of inquiry.  Areas of particular interest include:

• Cell/Pathogen interactions—studies of host responses at the cell surface, cell signaling in response to infection, microbial persistence in host cells, and other work.
• Host/Pathogen interactions—studies of how host genetics influences resistance and susceptibility to infection, innate and adaptive immune responses to microbes, pathogen modulation of the immune system, and other work.
• Novel routes to disease causation—studies of the role of infectious agents in the etiology of chronic, autoimmune, and immunologic diseases, and other work.

Deadlines:  Internal UM/UMMC one-page pre-applications should be accompanied by a current biosketch in NIH format and submitted by 5:00 p.m., Friday, August 30, 2013.  UMMC pre-applications should be e-mailed to Cari Fowler, Manager, Research Information, at cfowler@umc.edu. Pre-applications from the UM Oxford campus should be e-mailed to Jason Hale, UM Director of Research Resources, at jghale@olemiss.edu. An internal committee at each campus will review the pre-applications and select the two strongest applicants from each by September 20th. The UM Vice Chancellor and the UMMC Associate Vice Chancellor for Research will then select two of the remaining pre-applications by October 1st and notify the selected applicant. Those two applicants will then be asked to develop full applications, which must be submitted by UM to the sponsor on or before 3:00 pm CDT, November 1, 2013.

Awards:  PATH awards are $500,000 for five-year projects. Indirect costs may not be charged against PATH awards. Grantees must devote at least 75 percent of their time to their research-related activities (including those funded by other sources). No more than $20,000 of the award may be used annually for the grantee’s salary support, including fringe benefits.  There is no limit on the use of the award for other laboratory or clinical personnel working with the grantee.

For more information, go to: http://www.bwfund.org/grant-programs/infectious-diseases/investigators-pathogenesis-infectious-disease/background