Van Tyne and Mohimani

i4Kids Pilot Grant FY25
Project Period: July 1, 2024 - December 31, 2025
Award Amount: $40,000

In this project, we aim to discover new bioactive metabolites that are “hidden” within the genomes of human-associated bacterial pathogens. Non-ribosomal peptides (NRPs) represent a diverse class of natural products that includes antibiotics, immunosuppressants, and anticancer agents. NRPs have been identified in a wide variety of habitats, from marine environments to soil, and they are increasingly being discovered within the human microbiome.  However, the discovery of new NRPs remains a slow, laborious, and inefficient process. We propose to scan the genomes of human-associated bacterial strains to identify new NRPs, and then characterize them to learn more about their functions. This project will advance our understanding of infection, inflammation, and immunity in children through the discovery of novel bioactive metabolites encoded within the human microbiome. We expect that some of the NRPs we discover will have potential biomedical applications and could one day be used to improve children’s health by combatting infectious and inflammatory diseases.