Programs and Activities Highlights
- C06 Construction Program Update
An ORIP staff member presented an update on ORIP’s C06 construction program at the NIH Council of Councils meeting on May 14–15, 2026. The discussion featured an overview of the program’s history and a summary of the review and funding processes. The presentation also highlighted examples of representative facilities supported by C06 funds.
- S10 Symposium
ORIP held its inaugural S10 Symposium on April 23–24, 2026. The symposium was a community-building event for broad instrument users to share S10 know-hows and inform prospective applicants about S10 program requirements and funding opportunities. During the symposium, distinguished S10 awardees shared their knowledge on S10 grantsmanship and post-award management. This milestone event marks an important first step toward establishing the S10 community.
- Limited Competition: Instrumentation Grant Program for Resource-Limited Institutions (S10 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
The Instrumentation Grant Program for Resource-Limited Institutions supports the purchase of state-of-the-art scientific instruments to enhance the research and educational missions of resource-limited institutions. Requested instruments may support biomedical research and education in basic, translational, biomedically related behavioral, or clinical fields. ORIP has signed onto this notice of funding opportunity, which invites applications from eligible organizations to apply.
- Closeout Site Visit to the University of California, Los Angeles
On February 9, 2026, ORIP staff conducted a virtual closeout site visit to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Human Gene and Cell Therapy Facility, supported by NIH grant C06OD030144. The new 13,000-square-foot Good Manufacturing Practices–compliant facility replaced a 1993 space and features eight processing rooms, two bioengineering rooms, and clean rooms equipped for bioreactors and 3D printers. The facility expands UCLA’s capacity to manufacture cell and bioengineered theragnostic products for more than 20 clinical trials in cancer, HIV/AIDS, sickle cell disease, severe combined immune deficiency, inherited blood disorders, and age-related macular degeneration. This Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold–certified facility has centralized manufacturing, expanded staffing from 5 to 20 full-time equivalents, implemented an electronic quality management system, and significantly strengthened UCLA’s translational and clinical research enterprise.
- Closeout Site Visit to Wake Forest University
ORIP staff conducted a virtual closeout site visit on January 21, 2026, to Wake Forest University’s newly constructed Preclinical Imaging and Irradiation (PRIMIR) facility, supported by NIH construction grant C06OD030099. The $7.3 million award funded construction of a 10,287-gross-square-foot, state-of-the-art primate research building at the university’s Clarkson Campus, with total project costs of $15.8 million, including $8.5 million in institutional support. The facility consolidates imaging and irradiation capabilities for nonhuman primates that previously required transportation across the county, significantly reducing stress to the test subjects and improving research reproducibility. The PRIMIR facility features three specialized suites housing a Varian TrueBeam LINAC, Siemens Skyra 3 Tesla MRI, and GE Discovery 64-Slice PET/CT scanner, along with animal biosafety level 2–compliant animal housing, radioisotope-rated infrastructure, and energy-efficient design elements. The facility received its certificate of occupancy in May 2025 and completed its first study in July 2025. It now supports six major research programs, two national NIH-funded primate resources, and two training programs (T32 and T35), serving principal investigators funded by multiple NIH institutes and the U.S. Department of Defense with research on advancing radiation effects, Alzheimer’s disease, aging, substance use, neuro-oncology, and diabetes/metabolic disease studies.
Read more in the archive.
ORIP-Supported Research Highlights
- Immune–Microbiome Coordination Defines Interferon Setpoints in Healthy Humans
The gut microbiome (the collection of different microbes) plays an important role in shaping the immune system, but the relationship between the gut microbiome and baseline immune states in healthy people remains poorly understood. In this study, researchers collected blood and stool samples from 110 male and female patients from the San Francisco Bay area. The researchers completed multiomics analyses of the samples to identify coordinated immune and microbial patterns. Results showed that interferon response was one of the most variable immune features found in blood samples. This feature was closely linked to changes in microbiome makeup, microbial pathways, and metabolic products in stool samples. These immune and microbiome features also were shown to remain stable. These findings highlight a strong relationship in healthy people between baseline immune states and the microbiome. Data from this study could help identify immune–microbiome features that underlie disease susceptibility and therapeutic response.
- Co-localization of Lymph Node Therapeutics Enhances T Cell Activation and Anti-tumor Response
Lymph nodes (LNs) play an important role in creating and altering immune responses. Researchers were interested in learning how the organization of antigens (markers seen as foreign and recognized by the immune system) and adjuvants (agents that cause a stronger immune response) within LNs influence anti-tumor immune responses. In this study, antigens and adjuvants were loaded as cargo into microparticles. Using cell cultures and 6- to 10-week-old female mice, researchers showed that localizing cargo-loaded microparticles to the same LN created a strong antigen-specific T-cell response and provided antitumor protection. Results also showed that separating microparticles across different LNs decreased immune efficacy. Mixed-cargo microparticles caused similar immune responses compared with multiple, single-cargo microparticles if injections were localized to the same LN. These findings support the translation of mixed-cargo degradable microparticles for LN-targeted immunotherapy (treatments that modify the immune system to fight cancer) strategies.
- Parsing Autism Spectrum Heterogeneity Through fMRI
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is very heterogeneous (many causes and a wide range of observable symptoms). Researchers used functional MRI (fMRI) (a non-invasive technique that uses magnetic fields to image organs) to study patterns of coordinated activity for ASD within the brain. In this study, researchers looked at 20 genetic mouse models for autism, 940 patients with autism, and 1,036 neurotypical patients (sexes not stated) to find brain connectivity subtypes. The hypoconnectivity (weak signals) subtype was linked to synaptic pathways, whereas the hyperconnectivity (strong signals) subtype was linked to immune-related pathways. This cross-species analysis confirms the translational relevance of these findings and provides a systems-level framework that transforms inconsistent data from previous fMRI studies into biologically meaningful signals. In addition, these findings support NIH’s strategic priorities and open new avenues for clinically subtyping ASD and targeted therapeutic development.
- Glucose-Dependent Spatial and Temporal Modulation of Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cell Proliferation via ACLY-Regulated Histone Acetylation
Oligodendrocytes (OLs) are cells that create a myelin (protective layer) sheath around nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) require specific signals to become OLs, but these signals remain poorly understood. In this study, researchers used neonatal mice (both sexes used) and advanced imaging technology. Results identified glucose as a key signal that governs OPC behavior in the developing brain. Brain regions with higher glucose levels had greater OPC proliferation (increase in cell number) and histone acetylation (the process of adding acetyl groups to histones to regulate access to DNA). The protein ACLY was found to drive the activation of proliferation genes by changing glucose-derived citrate into acetyl-CoA. Deletion of ACLY from OPCs caused hypomyelination (not enough myelin) in mice; OLs used another molecule, ketone bodies, to partially rescue this myelin shortage. These findings establish a metabolic framework that links glucose to brain myelination, with major implications for neurodevelopment and myelin-mediated disorders.
- KDM3A Catalyses the Oxidation of Acetyl-Lysine to Hydroxyacetyl-Lysine on Histone H3K9
Histones play an important role in packaging DNA within a cell’s nucleus. Modifications to histones allow DNA to be accessible to make copies of RNA (transcription) or compact to prevent transcription. In this study, researchers found that enzyme KDM3A, known for removing methyl groups from histones to suppress transcription, was found to also oxidize an acetyl group on histone H3—H3K9ac—to produce a novel modification called Nε-hydroxyacetyl-lysine. This modification is still recognized by the same proteins that bind the standard acetyl group to promote transcription. Using human cell lines, antibodies (proteins that bind to a specific target), and mass spectrometry (technique to identify molecules) methods, researchers confirmed its cellular relevance. These findings reveal an unexpected oxygen-dependent link between histone acetylation and KDM3A enzyme activity, with implications for how cells respond to hypoxia and inhibitors of histone enzymes in epigenetic regulation under a hypoxic tumor microenvironment.
Read more in the archive.
