Kansas State University’s infectious disease centre receives $11.4 million NIH boost for ongoing zoonotic research

Kansas State University’s Centre on Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases has secured a further $11.4 million from the NIH to extend its pioneering work on diseases affecting both animals and humans, supporting research, training, and infrastructure through 2031.

Kansas State University’s Centre on Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases has secured $11.4 million from the National Institutes of Health to extend its work for another five years, through 30 April 2031.

The award, announced by the university, will support research on diseases that threaten both animals and people, while also backing training and infrastructure for the next generation of scientists. Juergen A. Richt, the centre’s director, said the funding reflected the “outstanding dedication, collaboration and scientific excellence” of the team and built on the progress made in the first phase of the programme.

Established in 2020 under the NIH’s Centres of Biomedical Research Excellence scheme, the centre has focused on turning early-career researchers into independent grant winners and widening Kansas State’s infectious-disease capacity. In its first four years, investigators submitted 93 proposals and won 21 awards worth nearly $9 million. A further 33 proposals in the fifth year and no-cost extension brought nine more awards, also worth about $9 million.

The programme has also expanded faculty recruitment, cross-campus collaboration and shared research facilities, including animal-model and molecular biology cores now folded into the university’s biomedical core network. More than 190 peer-reviewed papers came out of the first phase.

Phase 2 will continue work on pathogen virulence, host responses and disease mechanisms, using laboratory and animal-model studies.