Tuesday, February 17, 2026 2/17/2026

The electrophysiology of biofilm development and drug resistance

Award Number: K99AI175656
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: TRAINING/TRAINEESHIP
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/06/2023
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2025

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The electrophysiology of biofilm development and drug resistance - Project Summary Biofilms are intrinsically drug-resistant. While the signaling pathways mediating resistance in biofilms are documented, only recently has the importance of electrophysiology in modifying gentamicin resistance come to light. However, the role of electrophysiology in biofilm formation and maturation is unknown. Furthermore, we currently lack high throughput screening techniques for assessing the bactericidal potential of treatment strategies against clinical biofilms. During my K99 training, I will investigate how mechanically-stimulated calcium fluctuations modify the c-di-GMP pools (Aim 1.1) and bacterial swarming (Aim 1.2) leading to biofilm formation. Concomitantly, I will deploy an assay for measur- ing biofilm viability in high throughput to screen for antibiotic adjuvants against biofilms (Aim 2.1). During this phase, my training will focus on the culture of biofilms, analysis of non-optical electrophysiology data, and building machine learning models subsequently applied during my R00 phase. Following my K99 phase, I will investigate the electrophysiology of mature biofilms using both optical and non-optical techniques and correlate changes in antibiotic tolerance across the biofilm life-cycle with changes in electrophysiology (Aim 1.3). Concomitantly, I will build and train deep learning models to predict gentamicin adjuvants against slow-growing cells based on viability data collected in my K99 phase (Aim 2.2). The product of my project will enrich our understanding of biofilm electrophysiology and enable methods for mitigating their formation or promoting their retention as is desirable for probiotics. Additionally, this work will deliver new machine learning technologies for finding antibiotic adjuvants to combat drug-resistant clinical biofilms.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2026	2024	THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO	3100 MARINE ST	BOULDER	CO	80309	BOULDER	USA	Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research	000	2	1/16/2026	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $138,699 )
2024	2024	THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO	3100 MARINE ST	BOULDER	CO	80309	BOULDER	USA	Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research	001	2	7/3/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$138,699
2024	2023	THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO	3100 MARINE ST	BOULDER	CO	80309	BOULDER	USA	Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research	000	1	2/27/2024	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $138,699

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $138,699 )
2023	2023	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, THE	3100 MARINE ST STE 481 572 UCB	BOULDER	CO	80309	BOULDER	USA	Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research	000	1	7/6/2023	NEW	$138,699
														Subtotal = $138,699

Grand Total All Awards = $277,398

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The electrophysiology of biofilm development and drug resistance

Award Number: K99AI175656

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: TRAINING/TRAINEESHIP

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/06/2023

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2025

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