TUMI

The Trans-University Microbiome Initiative (TUMI) will bring together UVA students and faculty in microbiology, immunology, chemical engineering, nutrition, genomics, neuroscience, psychology, education, kinesiology, environmental science, endocrinology, gastroenterology, infectious diseases, biomedical engineering, data science, and biocomplexity and support research into the microbiome. The microbiome is an essential component of human health and is key to our response to interventions, but there is still a lot to discover about how it works. The University's leadership in this area has attracted in over $100M from the National Institutes of Health and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The TransUniversity Microbiome Initiative (TUMI) has continued to make progress in key areas: (1) building infrastructure, (2) funding novel, successful microbiome research, and (3) hiring and maintaining microbiome experts and data scientists. TUMI has supported the purchase of equipment to evaluate microbial communities from the gut, nose, urine, blood, and nose. Lab spaces have been outfitted for shared use and these spaces have seen increased demand among clinicians without access to laboratories of their own. Carrie Cowardin, PhD (Pediatrics) continues to succeed in obtaining funding, while also partnering with other faculty through collaboration and education efforts. In addition to faculty, TUMI has recruited Dilza Silva, PhD (Metabolomics and Proteomics Expert) to UVA and maintained Brett Moreau, PhD (Bioinformatician and Data Scientist, promoted to Assistant Professor in Jan 2023) and Casandra Hoffman, PhD (Senior Research Program Manager) at a time when their services are in high demand in Biotech Industries. 

TUMI has funded 29 pilot projects, ranging from $10k to $100k awards, totaling $1,461,000 in funding. Five pilot awardees have secured external funding for complementary and/or follow-up studies directly linked to their pilot awards, totaling almost $6M in total costs (Cowardin R01, Lukens R21, Rutkowski R01, Thomas R21, Jenior (Papin) K99, Moore Industry). To date, TUMI has supported >40 investigators in their research efforts and connected with investigators from 7 departments outside of the School of Medicine. TUMI has facilitated 8 new collaborative projects and launched an annual, international, Microbiome, Metabolomics, and Data Science Course. TUMI served as an attractive resource at UVA for the “Center for Chemical Currencies of a Microbial Planet” NSF Science and Technology Center.

To date, TUMI has submitted seven proposals to fund TUMI Faculty, Data Scientists, Administrative Staff, and microbiome core facilities. These include a P50 Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers in 2020, resubmitted in 2021; two U19 Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (CARB) Interdisciplinary Research Units in 2020; the Prominence to Preeminence (P2PE) STEM Initiative “3MINDS” Maternal Microbiome Metabolism and Infant Neurocognitive Development Study in 2021, U19 proposal that includes a Data Analysis Core to fund TUMI efforts (Petri, Cowardin, Moreau), and a P01 “Aging, Alzheimer’s disease and postoperative cognitive dysfunction” that hosts a microbiome core at UVA (Zuo-Gaultier-Hoffman). TUMI has connected with industry partners to secure a gift to support child-maternal microbiome research and is in the process of finalizing a Master Research Agreement to support long-term research collaborations between Perrigo and UVA investigators.

The TransUniversity Microbiome Initiative (TUMI) has established UVA as a leader in microbiome research by building advanced infrastructure, funding innovative studies, and recruiting experts in the field. TUMI has enhanced research capabilities by equipping laboratories with state-of-the-art tools for DNA isolation and microbial community analysis. Shared-use lab spaces have been outfitted to facilitate collaboration, and dedicated sample storage solutions have streamlined research processes. Thes facilities remain in use today.

TUMI has strengthened UVA’s research community by recruiting key faculty and technical experts. TUMI-funded faculty hires include Drs. Cowardin and Medlock in Pediatrics and Dr. Carey-Medlock in Infectious Disease. Recognizing the growing need for expertise in metabolomics and data science, TUMI has brought in specialists skilled in program management and data analysis (Wase, Moreau, Hoffman, Da Silva, Costa). The demand for skilled data scientists is evident, as four former TUMI hires have been recruited by leading biotech and data science companies (Tempus Labs, Vedanta Biosciences, ThermoFisher, Comscore).

TUMI has funded 33 pilot projects, awarding over $1.5 million to microbiome researchers. This investment has yielded significant results, as five pilot awardees have gone on to secure more than $5.5 million in external research funding through major NIH grants, including R01 and R21 awards. Since its inception, TUMI has supported over 40 UVA investigators and expanded its reach into eight departments outside of the School of Medicine. The initiative has also facilitated eight new collaborative research projects and launched an annual Microbiome, Metabolomics, and Data Science Course. The strength of TUMI’s research environment has contributed to UVA’s selection as a site for the National Science Foundation’s “Center for Chemical Currencies of a Microbial Planet” and is highlighted as a major resource in multiple NIH NRSA T32 Training Programs. Overall, TUMI’s support and resources have resulted in >$25M in microbiome, metabolomics, and data science funding at the University.

To sustain and expand its impact, TUMI has submitted five major proposals that would support faculty, data scientists, administrative staff, and core facilities. TUMI has established industry partnerships and secured strategic gifts to advance microbiome research. TUMI is frequently contacted by Virginia patients, doctors, and citizens to better understand the links between the microbiome and human health.

Through these efforts, TUMI continues to drive innovation in the microbiome sciences while fostering collaboration across disciplines. By investing in research, talent, and infrastructure, the initiative has positioned UVA as a leading center for microbiome discovery.