Vermont Center for Immunobiology/Infectious Diseases (VCIID)

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Abstract: scope of parent award and relevance to the NOSI on women's health The parent award, P30 GM118228, COBRE Phase III, supports the Vermont Center for Immunology and Infectious Diseases (VCIID) at the University of Vermont (UVM). The VCIID represents a multidisciplinary group of scientists and clinicians undertaking collaborative research in basic immunology, autoimmunity, microbial pathogenesis, and host response to infections. The keystone of the VCIID is scientific excellence through dedicated mentoring of talented junior faculty in an atmosphere that is both engaging and rigorous. In Phase III we seek to coalesce our mutual interests along research lines that will maintain our competitiveness and encourage basic, translational, and entrepreneurial research projects. We will foster this effort through the support of Pilot Project and Core Facilities, and administrative support. This Supplement Application represents a collaboration between two VCIID faculty members who are basic researchers, and two physician-scientists in the department of Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences. On both sides, there is a junior investigator paired with a senior investigator (respectively: Dr. Krementsov and Dr. Teuscher from VCIID; Dr. Brodeur and Dr. McGee from Ob-Gyn), which fits with VCIID's goal of support for junior faculty, as well as cross-departmental and interdisciplinary collaboration. The scientific goals of this Supplement Application are to investigate the mechanisms regulating innate immune cell functionality in the context of autoimmune disease and normal reproductive function. As such, this fits well within the scope of the VCIID, which supports basic immunology and autoimmunity research. With regard to relevance to women's health, in this supplement application, we propose a basic science approach to dissect molecular mechanisms whereby female reproductive hormones regulate immune cell function in the context of: 1) an autoimmune disease (MS, with highly biased incidence in females), and 2) female reproductive organ function. The NOSI states that the “proposed research must address at least one of the strategic goals of the 2019-2023 Trans-NIH Strategic Plan for Women's Health Research”. Our proposed research will address Strategic Objectives 1.1 (basic biology of sex differences), 1.2 (influence of sex on disease), and 1.5 (research on female reproductive function).