Oklahoma Center for Microbiome Research
"host-microbe interactions to ecosystems"
The Oklahoma Center for Microbiome Research (OCMR) is one of four Tier 1 Research Initiatives, which are strategic priorities for OSU. The OCMR is funded by an NIH Institutional Development Award (IDeA) to establish a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) with a thematic, multidisciplinary focus on microbiome science. This Center of Excellence was designed to foster the careers of up-and-coming scientists in the microbiome field. The OCMR provides the intellectual environment necessary to support five Research Project Leaders through a mentoring system and enhanced research infrastructure. The OCMR is one of only three microbiome-focused COBRE grants awarded nationwide and is the first to provide cutting-edge anaerobic microbiology services. The Anaerobic Microbiology Core is the first facility in Oklahoma to provide customized culturomics services, which is imperative for this COBRE and the wider Oklahoma research community. Enhanced anaerobic microbiology infrastructure is critical for the success of the proposed Research Projects. The OSU Division for Research has made substantial institutional commitments to this Phase I COBRE. These investments include new faculty lines, startup packages, research space, pilot projects, and the Anaerobic Microbiology Core. The Projects associated with the OCMR promise to generate new knowledge of microbiome structure and function that lay the foundation for treatments to maintain and restore microbiome health. The OCMR is located at Oklahoma State University, a Carnegie Research 1 institution, 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 OCMR provides funding, Research Core support, and mentoring to Research Project Leaders to facilitate their independence.
Financial support for the Center is provided by a National Institute of General Medical Sciences CoBRE award (P20GM152333).