UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOLS OF DENTISTRY AND MEDICINE RECEIVE $10.7M GRANT TO CONDUCT SYSTEMS BIOLOGY RESEARCH ON CONTROL AND PREVENTION OF SEXUALLY-TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS   Research goal is to identify better diagnostic, vaccine and treatment targets for chlamydia and gonorrhea    

BALTIMORE, MD, July 29, 2014 — The University of Maryland Schools of Dentistry (UM SOD) and Medicine (UM SOM) jointly announced today that they have received a five-year $10.7 million grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health (Grant #2U19A1084044-06) to study the causes, prevention and treatment of sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs). The grant, which renews a previous $12 million five-year NIAID-funded research program, represents a new direction for the research by studying chlamydial and gonorrheal diseases as the outcome of complex interactions between the host genetics, the urogenital polymicrobial microbiome, and the pathogen’s unique genetics. By applying modern “omics” technology, the study aims at identifying novel molecular “biomarkers” of susceptibility to sexually transmitted infections (STIs), ensuing disease severity, and conversely protection from STIs and STDs.

Biomarkers can be measured in the body (or its products) as a means to predict and potentially influence pathways related to disease. They may reveal mechanisms of infection or disease that can be exploited as therapeutic or diagnostic targets.   The long-term goal of the research is to develop strategies and the means to reduce the incidence of STIs and STDs worldwide…

Click to view the PDF press release here. View the following links to read more about Dr. Ravel and more about Dr. Bavoil.