PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
This Phase I COBRE would create the Oklahoma Center for Microbiome Research (OCMR). The proposed
Center of Excellence will foster the careers of up-and-coming scientists in the microbiome field. The goal is to
create the intellectual environment necessary to support five Research Project Leaders in Microbiome
Research by installing a mentoring system and building research infrastructure. The OCMR is innovative
because it would be one of only three microbiome-focused COBRE grants awarded nationwide and the first to
create infrastructure for cutting-edge anaerobic microbiology services. The Anaerobic Core will be the first
facility in Oklahoma to provide customized culturomics services, which is imperative not only for this COBRE
but the wider Oklahoma research community. Enhanced anaerobic microbiology infrastructure is critical for the
success of the proposed Research Projects. The Center of Excellence is significant because it is one of four
strategic research initiatives prioritized for sustained support by Oklahoma State University’s Division of the
Vice President for Research. As such, the OSU administration has made substantial institutional commitments
to this Phase I COBRE application. Specifically, these investments include new faculty lines, startup packages,
research space, support for pilot projects, and a new Anaerobic Microbiology Research Core. The Projects
associated with the OCMR will generate new knowledge of microbiome structure and function to lay the
foundation for treatments to maintain and restore microbiome health. The OCMR will be located at Oklahoma
State University, a Carnegie Research 1 institution and the state’s land grant university, in primary partnership
with the OSU Center for Health Sciences, an academic health center that includes the College of Osteopathic
Medicine in Tulsa, and the COM Cherokee Nation in Tahlequah, OK. The PI/Director of the OCMR will be Dr.
Tyrrell Conway who brings over three decades of experience mentoring students, postdocs, staff, and faculty;
leading large research projects to study microbiome functions; and administering a large academic
department. This Center of Excellence will initially have 20 scientists as key personnel, including five promising
Research Project Leaders and several well-established microbiome researchers to serve as Mentors and Core
Director. The OCMR will provide funding, Research Core support, and mentoring to Research Project Leaders
to facilitate their independence, i.e., R01 status. The proposed Center of Excellence will be created by
executing four specific aims: 1) Recruit and support five Research Project Leaders to scientific independence;
2) Create a thematic Center to mentor Research Project Leaders and promote multidisciplinary research
centered around microbiome science; 3) Establish a new Research Core for Anaerobic Microbiology to boost
innovative and collaborative microbiome science, enhance anaerobic culturomics capacities, and share
experimental approaches; and 4) Support an environment of intellectual collaboration through activities that
allow frequent interactions and develop a sustainable Center of Excellence focused on Microbiome Research.