Planning Grant: Engineering Research Center for Innovative Materials and Processes for Antimicrobial Control Technologies (IMPACT)

提案编号：1936926规划拨款：抗菌控制技术创新材料和工艺工程研究中心(IMPACT)摘要：第1部分：这个跨机构团队正在开展规划活动，以发展抗菌控制技术创新材料和工艺工程研究中心(ERC-IMPACT)。IMPACT的使命是通过科学、工程和教育方面的创新来推进抗菌素控制技术。它的动机是抗菌素耐药性感染的迅速增加，这些感染已成为对人类健康的主要挑战。据预测，如果找不到有效的控制措施，到2050年，超级细菌感染导致的死亡人数将超过所有癌症的总和。微生物可以通过遗传因素(即超级细菌)或通过形成附着在表面的生物膜来抵御抗菌剂的攻击。应对抗菌素耐药性感染的巨大挑战需要大规模的合作研究，以了解抗菌素耐药性的机制，设计更有效的生物材料和医疗设备，并制定更好的监管指南，以确保医疗植入物的安全性。这个多学科团队将利用电子资源中心规划的机会，让利益相关者参与进来，并优先安排研究、教育、产业合作和外展方面的活动，为有竞争力的电子资源中心应用奠定坚实的基础。规划赠款将促进团队建设和影响的结构，这些影响将通过微生物控制技术和流程的创新；跨学科专业知识和劳动力的发展；利用鼓励多样性和包容性的文化建立学术界和产业界伙伴关系；与国家和全球合作伙伴的战略参与；以及能够为成功的未来吸引资金和资源的可持续创新生态系统，从而对医疗保健和生物安全产生变革性的更广泛影响。这种感染既来自自然选择的机制，也来自生物膜的形成。特别是，到目前为止，医疗器械和生物材料的设计几乎完全集中在器械本身的主要功能和对宿主的安全性上，即愈合。来自病原体和宿主微生物组的竞争微生物因素在很大程度上还没有被探索。因此，不仅促进愈合，而且随着时间的推移还能抵抗感染的材料特性还没有被很好地了解。同样，也缺乏有效的生物膜控制策略。目前可用的抗菌剂是使用药物筛选平台发现的，这些平台只针对浮游(自由游泳)微生物细胞的生长。随着传统抗菌剂的无效，迫切需要新的治疗方法，特别是在对人类健康如此关键的组织接触生物材料/装置的背景下。ERC-Impact将弥合知识差距，并提供基于合理设计的解决方案，以应对抗菌素耐药性及其在设备相关感染中的作用这一重大挑战。ERC-IMPACT将：(1)打造融合研究，以了解和控制不同微生物物种、宿主细胞和植入的生物材料之间的复杂相互作用；(2)设计新材料和设备，以主动检测和应对微生物感染；以及(3)开发不需要传统抗菌剂或通过协同活动将使用量降至最低的新控制方法。为了加快ERC的发展，该团队将与学术界(大学合作伙伴，包括为少数群体服务的机构)、行业(小型和大型公司、初创企业、研发机构)、技术翻译(专利、制造、可扩展性、企业家精神)、教育(研究生、本科生、当地学校、在线学习)、专业人员(博士后、退伍军人)和更广泛的社区的利益相关者接触。规划团队将发展战略伙伴关系，包括ERC项目模式的四个核心组成部分-基础研究、劳动力发展、多样性和包容性以及创新。最先进的ERC Impact中心将为利益相关者建立长期参与计划，以履行其创新使命，并为更好的人类健康和繁荣的未来服务社区。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Proposal Number: 1936926Planning Grant: Engineering Research Center for Innovative Materials and Processes for Antimicrobial Control Technologies (IMPACT) Abstract:Part 1: Planning activities are being pursued by this cross-institutional team to develop the Engineering Research Center for Innovative Materials and Processes for Antimicrobial Control Technologies (ERC-IMPACT). The mission of IMPACT is to advance antimicrobial control technologies through innovations in science, engineering, and education. It is motivated by the rapid increase in antimicrobial resistant infections, which have become a major challenge to human health. It is predicted that superbug infections will cause more deaths than all cancers combined by 2050 if no effective controls are found. Microbes can survive the attack of antimicrobials either through genetic elements (i.e. superbugs) or by forming surface-attached biofilms. Addressing the grand challenge of antimicrobial-resistant infection requires major collaborative efforts of convergent research to understand the mechanism of antimicrobial resistance, engineer more effective biomaterials and medical devices, and develop better regulatory guidelines to ensure the safety of medical implants. This multidisciplinary team will take the ERC planning opportunity to engage stakeholders and prioritize the activities in research, education, industrial collaboration, and outreach to build a solid foundation for a competitive ERC application. The planning grant will enable team-building and structuring of IMPACT that will subsequently lead to transformative broader impacts on healthcare and biosecurity through innovation in microbial control technologies and processes; development of cross-disciplinary expertise and workforce; building academia-industry partnerships with a culture that encourages diversity and inclusion; strategic engagement with national and global partners; and a sustainable innovation ecosystem that can attract funding and resources for a successful future.Part 2: The Engineering Research Center for Innovative Materials and Processes for Antimicrobial Control Technologies (ERC-IMPACT) will lead breakthroughs in science and technology to address the grand challenge of antimicrobial resistant infections. Such infections come both from mechanisms of natural selection and from biofilm formation. In particular, the design of medical devices and biomaterials has to this point focused almost exclusively on the main function of the device itself and safety to the host, i.e., healing. The competing microbial factors from both pathogens and the host microbiome are largely unexplored. Thus, the material properties that not only promote healing but also resist infection over time are not well understood. Similarly, there is a lack of effective biofilm control strategies. Currently available antimicrobials were discovered using drug screening platforms that only target the growth of planktonic (free-swimming) microbial cells. With the conventional antimicrobials being ineffective, new treatment methods are urgently needed, particularly in the context of tissue-contacting biomaterials/devices that are so critical to human health. ERC-IMPACT will bridge knowledge gaps and provide solutions based on rational design to address the grand challenge of antimicrobial resistance and its role in device-associated infections. ERC-IMPACT will: (1) forge convergent research to understand and control the complex interactions between different microbial species, host cells, and implanted biomaterials; (2) engineer new materials and devices to actively sense and respond to microbial infections; and (3) develop new control methods that do not require conventional antimicrobials or minimize the use through synergistic activities. To accelerate the evolution of the envisioned ERC, the team will engage with stakeholders in academia (university partners including minority-serving institutions), industry (small and large-scale companies, start-ups, research and development facilities), technology translation (patents, manufacturing, scalability, entrepreneurship), education (graduate, undergraduate, local schools, online learning), professionals (postdocs, veterans), and the broader community. The planning team will develop a strategic partnership that encompasses the four components central to the ERC program model - fundamental research, workforce development; diversity and inclusion; and innovation. The state-of-the-art ERC IMPACT center will build long-term engagement plans for stakeholders to fulfill its mission of innovation and to serve the community for better human health and a prosperous future.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.