J.E.FOGARTY INTERNATIONAL CENTER
Programs and Initiatives Programs and Initiatives-icon
News, Events and Information International Services Programs and Initiatives Regional Activities
Back Home page About FIC Search
Programs and Initiatives | Research Grants
Ecology of Infectious Diseases Initiative

Updated March 2003

This joint NIH-NSF initiative supports efforts to understand the underlying ecological and biological mechanisms that govern relationships between human-induced environmental changes and the emergence and transmission of infectious diseases.  The highly interdisciplinary research projects will study how large-scale environmental events — such as habitat destruction, biological invasion, and pollution — alter the risks of emergence of viral, parasitic, and bacterial diseases in humans and other animals.

The Ecology of Infectious Diseases program is a collaboration between:
National Science Foundation (NSF)

Four National Institutes of Health (NIH) Institutes and Centers — 
* Fogarty International Center (FIC)
* National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
* National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
* National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)

and

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

 

* Initial Awards
Initial awards were made to fund 12 research projects under the Ecology of Infectious Diseases initiative. The grants are jointly funded by NSF and three NIH Institutes and Centers (FIC, NIAID and NIEHS).  These four organizations jointly committed more than $23 million to fund the projects over a period of 5 years.

Initial awards made by the Fogarty International Center (FIC):

* Dr. Philip Craig and colleagues at the University of Salford (UK), together with investigators in China, France, Ireland, Japan, and the United States, study the transmission of human alveolar echinococcosis (a highly pathogenic disease resulting from infection by a tapeworm) in farming communities in China.  The project aims to develop predictive models of relative risk to humans of this and other parasitic diseases in relation to animal husbandry and land-use practices, including deforestation.  

* Dr. Charles King of Case Western Reserve University, leads a collaboration of investigators from the United States, Israel, and Kenya to research the impact of human population growth and climate variation on human infection rates by the blood fluke Schistosoma haematobium in Kenya.  Infection with S. haematobium causes urinary schistosomiasis, a major cause of human morbidity and mortality throughout Africa and the Mideast.  The goal of this project is to define predictive principles and methods for effective interruption of parasite transmission from snails to human hosts.

* Dr. Stephen McGarvey of Brown University, together with investigators in Holland, the Philippines, and England, studies the ecology and transmission of the blood fluke Schistosoma japonicum associated with rice cultivation in the Philippines.  The objective of this project is to develop a dynamic model of the influence of agricultural expansion and intensification, including specific management practices, on the risk of human infection and disease.

Initial awards made by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID):

* Dr. Eliska Rejmankova and colleagues at the University of California, Davis lead a team of researchers from the United States and Belize to study the effects of deforestation and phosphorus runoff from agricultural fields on the populations of mosquito vectors of malaria and the risk of human infection.

* Dr. Thomas Unnasch and colleagues at the University of Alabama at Birmingham lead a collaboration to study the ecology of mosquito-borne encephalitis virus diseases, including Eastern equine encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, and West Nile virus in the southeastern United States.  The goal of this project is to elucidate the ecological factors necessary to promote viral enzootics and to identify the factors necessary to allow the viruses to escape the avian zoonotic cycle and infect humans and other mammals.

* Dr. Scott Weaver and colleagues at the University of Texas Medical Branch lead a collaborative effort that includes the USDA, the Smithsonian Institution, and the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center Detachment in Peru to examine the effects of environmental changes, such as deforestation, habitat fragmentation, urbanization, and the introduction of exotic mosquitoes, on the ecology of several mosquito-borne viruses endemic to the Peruvian Amazon and on the risk of infection in humans.  

Initial awards made by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS):

* Dr. Joseph Kiesecker and colleagues at the Pennsylvania State University lead a study seeking to understand the influence of physical and chemical changes in wetlands on outbreaks of flatworm parasites in amphibian hosts in the northeastern United States.  The goal of this study is to identify key environmental changes resulting from urbanization that influence outbreaks of parasitic diseases.

Initial awards made by the National Science Foundation (NSF):

* Dr. David Anderson and colleagues at Colorado State University lead a collaborative effort with the USGS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to study the ecology of rabies transmission in commensal bat colonies with the aim of developing a predictive model to help understand risk of bat-borne diseases in relation to urban sprawl.

* Dr. Andre Dhondt and colleagues at Cornell University lead a project to study a pathogenic bacterium, Mycoplasma gallisepticum, in house finches in order to develop predictive models on the spread of aerially transmitted bacterial diseases.  Emphasis will be placed on human contributing factors, including population density, bird feeding, farming, and urban sprawl (which modify the spread and maintenance of disease).  The results will aid in understanding this pathogen and a variety of other aerially transmitted diseases.

* Dr. Wayne Getz of the University of California, Berkeley collaborates with investigators from South Africa to study the spread and impact of bovine tuberculosis in the African buffalo in South Africa’s Kruger National Park.  This project will examine the influence of population distribution, population structure, and population movement, as well as a variety of environmental variables, including fires, water availability, vegetation, and placement of fencing.

* Dr. N. Thompson Hobbs and colleagues at Colorado State University, in collaboration with investigators at the USGS and elsewhere, are examining the effect of changing land use on the spatial and temporal dynamics of prion disease in wildlife.  The project aims to develop models of disease dynamics and use the models to investigate the effects of habitat compression and fragmentation resulting from sustained changes in human land use.

* Dr. Linda Lowenstine and colleagues at the University of California, Davis lead a team of investigators from the Marine Mammal Laboratory, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and others to study the interaction of organochlorine pollutants in the development of herpesvirus infections and cancer in California sea lions.  The study aims to identify key internal and external environmental factors in order to develop a predictive model of infection and cancer incidence in this sentinel species for marine and coastal systems.


* For additional information on the Ecology of Infectious Diseases Initiative, please contact the Program Director or the Program Specialist:

Dr. Joshua P. Rosenthal
Fogarty International Center
National Institutes of Health
Building 31, B2C39
31 Center Drive MSC 2220
Bethesda, MD 20892-2220
Phone: (301) 496-1653
Fax: (301) 402-2056
E-Mail: Joshua_Rosenthal@nih.gov

or 

Amanda Percival

Fogarty International Center
National Institutes of Health
Building 31, B2C39
31 Center Drive MSC 2220
Bethesda, MD 20892-2220
Phone: (301) 496-7614
Fax: (301) 402-2056
E-Mail: percival@mail.nih.gov

 

* Archive:
*
The first announcement for this program appeared in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts November 16, 1999: RFA: TW-00-002.

* The second announcement for this program appeared in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts February 27, 2001: RFA: TW-01-004.

* Frequently Asked Questions for the second RFA.

* News Release: November 1, 2000: Ecology of Infectious Diseases Grants Jointly Announced by National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation

top

We welcome your questions and comments about FIC and its research programs. Please send e-mail inquiries to the Office of Communications.  Telephone: 301-496-2075 Fax: 301-594-1211.
Office of Communications • Fogarty International Center • National Institutes of Health
Building 31, Room B2C29 • 31 CENTER DR MSC 2220
Bethesda, MD 20892-2220
News, Events and Information International Services Programs and Initiatives Regional Activities