{"id":19829,"date":"2019-07-07T17:45:18","date_gmt":"2019-07-07T21:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.ncsu.edu\/2019\/07\/07\/cvm-researcher-awarded-grant-for-innovative-disease-work\/"},"modified":"2023-03-02T23:46:11","modified_gmt":"2023-03-03T04:46:11","slug":"cvm-researcher-awarded-grant-for-innovative-disease-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.ncsu.edu\/cvm-researcher-awarded-grant-for-innovative-disease-work\/","title":{"rendered":"CVM Researcher Awarded Grant for Innovative Disease Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

Matthew Foley has a singular focus: harnessing the body\u2019s own power to fight off the devastating bacterium<\/span> Clostridioides difficile.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Now he\u2019s getting invaluable help to reach his goal.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Foley, a postdoctoral fellow at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine, has received a prestigious National Institutes of Health T32 Training Grant to continue his promising research on <\/span>C. diff,<\/span><\/i> which causes half a million illnesses and 30,000 deaths each year in the United States alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the program, Foley will receive mentorship from scientists at the<\/span> Center for Gastrointestinal Biology and Disease<\/span><\/a> (CGIBD), a research collaborative between NC State and UNC-Chapel Hill.<\/span><\/p>\n

Each year, just one to two researchers are chosen for the Gastroenterology Basic Science Research Training Program at UNC that\u2019s funded by the NIH grant.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was very excited to receive such an honorable award, but the award goes beyond feeling acknowledged,\u201d said Foley. \u201cFunding as a postdoc is not guaranteed. This training grant gives me assurance that I can continue my work at NC State, mature my research, and receive mentorship from talented scientists here and at UNC.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

During the yearlong program, Foley will regularly meet with researchers at both schools, who will advise him on his ongoing work and help keep his professional development on track. He will learn about the array of research conducted by CGIBD members that could possibly inform Foley\u2019s own work on how gut microbiota creates molecules that impact human health.<\/span><\/p>\n

The CGIBD, established in 1983, is the only gastrointestinal center in the United States officially associated with a veterinary school. Gastrointestinal diseases in humans, such as irritable bowel disease, are also seen in dogs, cats, horses and other animals.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMembers of the CGIBD have world-class expertise in understanding gut physiology and human disease,\u201d said Foley. \u201cLearning from them will be integral to my scientific progress.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Foley, who holds a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from the University of Michigan, has been conducting research at NC State for a little over a year, exploring how a body\u2019s bile acids are modified by gut bacteria.<\/span><\/p>\n

The rich diversity of the body\u2019s bile acids is integral to our health, said Foley, strongly affecting the body\u2019s immune system and energy metabolism \u2014 even our circadian rhythms that tell us when to sleep and when to wake up.<\/span><\/p>\n

Foley ultimately wants to design innovative, next-generation probiotics that produce bile acids to specifically kill <\/span>C. diff<\/span><\/i>. Conditions such as obesity or irritable bowel disease could potentially be treated by altering the gut\u2019s bile acids to change the body\u2019s energy storage or curb inflammation, said Foley. Current treatment for <\/span>C. diff<\/span><\/i> infections range from various medications to stool transplant and surgery.<\/span><\/p>\n

[blockquote color=”indigo”]Part of our goal as scientists is to understand and inform the treatment of disease,\u201d he said. \u201cThis training opportunity will help me become the best scientist I can be so my research can make the greatest impact.<\/span>[\/blockquote]<\/p>\n

At the CVM, Foley works in the lab of Casey Theriot, assistant professor of infectious disease.<\/span> Theriot\u2019s research<\/span><\/a> is dedicated to how <\/span>C. diff<\/span><\/i> impacts both the gut\u2019s natural collection of microorganisms, its microbiota, and the molecular assortment created by those microorganisms, the gut metabolome.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2016, Theriot received a five-year, $1.5 million NIH grant to develop new therapies inhibiting <\/span>C. diff<\/span><\/i> growth and increase understanding of the mechanisms behind the gut\u2019s resistance against pathogens.<\/span><\/p>\n

C. diff<\/i>, a spore-forming bacterium,<\/i> commonly causes diarrhea and colitis, an inflammation of the colon. C. diff<\/i> can affect people of all ages, but more than 80% of C. diff<\/i>-attributed deaths occur in people 65 and older, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those at higher risk for infection include the recently hospitalized, people taking antibiotics and those who have had previous C. diff<\/i> infections.<\/p>\n

C. diff<\/i> is contagious and is found in animal and human feces, food products and environmental sources such as soil and water. Recent studies have shown a rise in global rates of C. diff-related disease over the past 20 years.<\/p>\n

Last year, Theriot\u2019s research team published a paper outlining its<\/span> development a drug-testing pipeline<\/span><\/a> to identify compounds that fight <\/span>C. diff<\/span><\/i> infections. They noted that 2-aminoimidazole (2-AI), a small molecule developed by former NC State professors, showed particular promise in controlling the bacterium.<\/span><\/p>\n

This post was originally published<\/a> in Veterinary Medicine News.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false,"raw":"Matthew Foley has a singular focus: harnessing the body\u2019s own power to fight off the devastating bacterium<\/span> Clostridioides difficile.<\/span><\/i>\r\n\r\nNow he\u2019s getting invaluable help to reach his goal.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nFoley, a postdoctoral fellow at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine, has received a prestigious National Institutes of Health T32 Training Grant to continue his promising research on <\/span>C. diff,<\/span><\/i> which causes half a million illnesses and 30,000 deaths each year in the United States alone.<\/span>\r\n\r\nDuring the program, Foley will receive mentorship from scientists at the<\/span> Center for Gastrointestinal Biology and Disease<\/span><\/a> (CGIBD), a research collaborative between NC State and UNC-Chapel Hill.<\/span>\r\n\r\nEach year, just one to two researchers are chosen for the Gastroenterology Basic Science Research Training Program at UNC that\u2019s funded by the NIH grant.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cI was very excited to receive such an honorable award, but the award goes beyond feeling acknowledged,\u201d said Foley. \u201cFunding as a postdoc is not guaranteed. This training grant gives me assurance that I can continue my work at NC State, mature my research, and receive mentorship from talented scientists here and at UNC.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\nDuring the yearlong program, Foley will regularly meet with researchers at both schools, who will advise him on his ongoing work and help keep his professional development on track. He will learn about the array of research conducted by CGIBD members that could possibly inform Foley\u2019s own work on how gut microbiota creates molecules that impact human health.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe CGIBD, established in 1983, is the only gastrointestinal center in the United States officially associated with a veterinary school. Gastrointestinal diseases in humans, such as irritable bowel disease, are also seen in dogs, cats, horses and other animals.<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cMembers of the CGIBD have world-class expertise in understanding gut physiology and human disease,\u201d said Foley. \u201cLearning from them will be integral to my scientific progress.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nFoley, who holds a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from the University of Michigan, has been conducting research at NC State for a little over a year, exploring how a body\u2019s bile acids are modified by gut bacteria.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe rich diversity of the body\u2019s bile acids is integral to our health, said Foley, strongly affecting the body\u2019s immune system and energy metabolism \u2014 even our circadian rhythms that tell us when to sleep and when to wake up.<\/span>\r\n\r\nFoley ultimately wants to design innovative, next-generation probiotics that produce bile acids to specifically kill <\/span>C. diff<\/span><\/i>. Conditions such as obesity or irritable bowel disease could potentially be treated by altering the gut\u2019s bile acids to change the body\u2019s energy storage or curb inflammation, said Foley. Current treatment for <\/span>C. diff<\/span><\/i> infections range from various medications to stool transplant and surgery.<\/span>\r\n\r\n[blockquote color=\"indigo\"]Part of our goal as scientists is to understand and inform the treatment of disease,\u201d he said. \u201cThis training opportunity will help me become the best scientist I can be so my research can make the greatest impact.<\/span>[\/blockquote]\r\n\r\nAt the CVM, Foley works in the lab of Casey Theriot, assistant professor of infectious disease.<\/span> Theriot\u2019s research<\/span><\/a> is dedicated to how <\/span>C. diff<\/span><\/i> impacts both the gut\u2019s natural collection of microorganisms, its microbiota, and the molecular assortment created by those microorganisms, the gut metabolome.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nIn 2016, Theriot received a five-year, $1.5 million NIH grant to develop new therapies inhibiting <\/span>C. diff<\/span><\/i> growth and increase understanding of the mechanisms behind the gut\u2019s resistance against pathogens.<\/span>\r\n\r\nC. diff<\/i>, a spore-forming bacterium,<\/i> commonly causes diarrhea and colitis, an inflammation of the colon. C. diff<\/i> can affect people of all ages, but more than 80% of C. diff<\/i>-attributed deaths occur in people 65 and older, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those at higher risk for infection include the recently hospitalized, people taking antibiotics and those who have had previous C. diff<\/i> infections.\r\n\r\nC. diff<\/i> is contagious and is found in animal and human feces, food products and environmental sources such as soil and water. Recent studies have shown a rise in global rates of C. diff-related disease over the past 20 years.\r\n\r\nLast year, Theriot\u2019s research team published a paper outlining its<\/span> development a drug-testing pipeline<\/span><\/a> to identify compounds that fight <\/span>C. diff<\/span><\/i> infections. They noted that 2-aminoimidazole (2-AI), a small molecule developed by former NC State professors, showed particular promise in controlling the bacterium.<\/span>"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matthew Foley has a singular focus: harnessing the body\u2019s own power to fight off the devastating bacterium Clostridioides difficile. Now he\u2019s getting invaluable help to reach his goal.\u00a0\u00a0 Foley, a postdoctoral fellow at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine, has received a prestigious National Institutes of Health T32 Training Grant to continue his promising … Continue reading CVM Researcher Awarded Grant for Innovative Disease Work →<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":173,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"ncstate_wire","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[101],"_ncst_magazine_issue":[],"class_list":["post-19829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-_from-newswire-collection-81"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCVM Researcher Awarded Grant for Innovative Disease Work - Office of Research and Innovation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/research.ncsu.edu\/cvm-researcher-awarded-grant-for-innovative-disease-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CVM Researcher Awarded Grant for Innovative Disease Work - Office of Research and Innovation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Matthew Foley has a singular focus: harnessing the body\u2019s own power to fight off the devastating bacterium Clostridioides difficile. Now he\u2019s getting invaluable help to reach his goal.\u00a0\u00a0 Foley, a postdoctoral fellow at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine, has received a prestigious National Institutes of Health T32 Training Grant to continue his promising … Continue reading CVM Researcher Awarded Grant for Innovative Disease Work →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/research.ncsu.edu\/cvm-researcher-awarded-grant-for-innovative-disease-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Office of Research and Innovation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-07T21:45:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-03T04:46:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.ncsu.edu\/cvm-researcher-awarded-grant-for-innovative-disease-work\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/research.ncsu.edu\/cvm-researcher-awarded-grant-for-innovative-disease-work\/\",\"name\":\"CVM Researcher Awarded Grant for Innovative Disease Work - Office of Research and Innovation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.ncsu.edu\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-07T21:45:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-03T04:46:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.ncsu.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/d61d5ae85e1cb18ffe63d111889f2f65\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.ncsu.edu\/cvm-researcher-awarded-grant-for-innovative-disease-work\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/research.ncsu.edu\/cvm-researcher-awarded-grant-for-innovative-disease-work\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.ncsu.edu\/cvm-researcher-awarded-grant-for-innovative-disease-work\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/research.ncsu.edu\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"CVM Researcher Awarded Grant for Innovative Disease Work\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.ncsu.edu\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/research.ncsu.edu\/\",\"name\":\"Office of Research and Innovation\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/research.ncsu.edu\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.ncsu.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/d61d5ae85e1cb18ffe63d111889f2f65\",\"name\":\"Staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.ncsu.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/076bacc1917e15ce8b2b1f00568f85d8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/076bacc1917e15ce8b2b1f00568f85d8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Staff\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/research.ncsu.edu\/author\/ncstate-newswire\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"CVM Researcher Awarded Grant for Innovative Disease Work - Office of Research and Innovation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/research.ncsu.edu\/cvm-researcher-awarded-grant-for-innovative-disease-work\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"CVM Researcher Awarded Grant for Innovative Disease Work - Office of Research and Innovation","og_description":"Matthew Foley has a singular focus: harnessing the body\u2019s own power to fight off the devastating bacterium Clostridioides difficile. 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