Tuesday, January 6, 2026 1/6/2026

New tools for tick-borne pathogen surveillance

Award Number: R01AI155472
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 12/08/2022
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 11/30/2027

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New tools for tick-borne pathogen surveillance - Project Summary Tick and rodent surveillance for pathogens requires substantial technical expertise and laboratory infrastructure. Most surveillance activities focus on detection of one or two potential pathogens in the vector or reservoir population and non-target pathogens remain undetected. To overcome the current limitations associated with traditional tick surveillance methods, we are proposing a novel dual metagenomic and metatranscriptomic sequencing solution using cutting-edge nanopore adaptive sampling (NAS) protocols. The NAS method leverages Oxford Nanopore Technologies sequencing technology (a portable MinION sequencer) and a recently developed bioinformatic pipeline that facilitates the immediate mapping of individual nucleotide molecules (DNA, cDNA, or RNA) to a given reference as each molecule is sequenced. User-defined thresholds then specify the retention or rejection of specific molecules, informed by the real-time reference mapping results as they are physically passing through a given sequencing nanopore. Hundreds to thousands of individual sequencing pores are controlled in real-time using a powerful Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) and the NAS software with retain/reject decisions made in less than a second for each individual pore. This allows for sensitive detection of a very wide range of targeted pathogen and host species barcoding sequences without becoming swamped in the sea of non- target host and symbiotic bacterial nucleic acids. The system can be field deployed and requires minimal infrastructure. An internet connection is not required. In the course of this proposed study, we will test NAS for diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity, specificity, and threshold of detection), test for detection of a variety of in vitro grown DNA and RNA-based pathogens, differentiate closely related pathogen species and strains, develop and ground truth protocols for field testing on wild ticks and rodents from a well-characterized region (Minnesota), and comprehensively field test the methods and protocols in a region predicted to have the one of the highest densities of emerging rodent-associated zoonoses in the US (central Kansas). We expect NAS to become an important and affordable tool with a wide variety of surveillance applications.


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 = $679,994 )
2026	2026	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA	2221 UNIVERSITY AVE SE STE 100	MINNEAPOLIS	MN	55414	HENNEPIN	USA	Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research	000	4	12/16/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$679,994
														Subtotal = $679,994

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $687,043 )
2025	2025	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA	200 OAK ST SE	MINNEAPOLIS	MN	55455	HENNEPIN	USA	Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research	000	3	11/15/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$687,043
														Subtotal = $687,043

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $698,772 )
2024	2024	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA	200 OAK ST SE	MINNEAPOLIS	MN	55455	HENNEPIN	USA	Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research	000	2	11/6/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$628,896
2024	2024	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA	200 OAK ST SE	MINNEAPOLIS	MN	55455	HENNEPIN	USA	Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research	001	2	5/15/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$69,876
														Subtotal = $698,772

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $689,882 )
2023	2023	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA	200 OAK ST SE # 224	MINNEAPOLIS	MN	55455	HENNEPIN	USA	Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research	000	1	12/8/2022	NEW	$689,882
														Subtotal = $689,882

Grand Total All Awards = $2,755,691

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New tools for tick-borne pathogen surveillance

Award Number: R01AI155472

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 12/08/2022

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 11/30/2027

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