Arkansas Children’s Propels Research into Deadly Fungus Using More than $3 Million in New NIH Funding

LITTLE ROCK, AR. (Aug.7, 2024) – A pair of infectious disease experts are establishing an emerging research program at Arkansas Children’s Research Institute (ACRI) to address a germ considered to be the leading cause of death for patients with weakened immune systems.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) have awarded grants worth more than $3 million to ACRI principal investigators Praveen Juvvadi, PhD, and William Steinbach, MD, who also serves as chief pediatrician at Arkansas Children’s and chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine. Juvvadi is also an associate professor of pediatric infectious diseases at UAMS.

Aspergillus fumigatus is a relatively common fungus found in the environment in places like decaying leaf litter. It is a leading cause of death among people with compromised immune systems, a population that includes children with chronic illnesses. The fungus’ mortality rate exceeds 40 percent. Health care teams have trouble fighting Aspergillus fumigatus because the super germ adapts and becomes stronger against currently available treatments.

Today, scientists do not fully understand how this fungus thrives, but Juvvadi and Steinbach have identified mechanisms they believe may be responsible for its rapid growth and reproduction. The NIH funding will help them understand the mechanism of how protein phosphatase calcineurin and protein kinase A drive Aspergillus fumigatus’ growth, contribute to its spread and strengthen its ability to resist antifungal medications.

“The World Health Organization recently named Aspergillus fumigatus as among the most critical fungal threats facing the world. For children with compromised immune systems, this research will embody

Arkansas Children’s mission of creating a healthier tomorrow,” Steinbach said. “These findings could promise a future that many of those patients are not guaranteed today.”

Juvvadi and Steinbach hope their findings will lead to the identification of newer drug targets and contribute to the development of new treatments that directly attack these mechanisms, making it more difficult for the fungus to survive.

Their NIH funding will flow through two grants: a five-year, $2.8 million R01 award and a two-year, $438,000 R21 award. “We are thrilled with NIH’s support of this work through two awards in the same cycle,” Juvvadi said. “This funding will help us reach critical insights into Aspergillus fumigatus’ survival strategies and bring us one step closer to developing life-saving therapies for patients as they fight this infection.”

ABOUT ARKANSAS CHILDREN'S

Arkansas Children's is the only health care system in the state solely dedicated to caring for Arkansas' 850,000 children. The private, non-profit organization includes two pediatric hospitals, a pediatric research institute and USDA nutrition center, a philanthropic foundation, a nursery alliance, statewide clinics, and many education and outreach programs — all focused on fulfilling a promise to define and deliver unprecedented child health. Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) is a 336-bed, Magnet-recognized facility in Little Rock operating the state’s only Level I pediatric trauma center; the state's only burn center; the state's only Level IV neonatal intensive care unit; the state's only pediatric intensive care unit; the state’s only pediatric surgery program with Level 1 verification from the American College of Surgeons (ACS); and the state's only nationally recognized pediatric transport program. Arkansas Children’s is nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report in seven pediatric subspecialties (2023-2024): Cancer, Cardiology & Heart Surgery, Diabetes & Endocrinology, Nephrology, Orthopedics, Pulmonology & Lung Surgery and Urology. Arkansas Children’s Northwest (ACNW), the first and only pediatric hospital in the northwest Arkansas region, is a level IV pediatric trauma center. ACNW operates a 24-bed inpatient unit; a surgical unit with five operating rooms; outpatient clinics offering over 20 subspecialties; diagnostic services; imaging capabilities; occupational therapy services; and northwest Arkansas' only pediatric emergency department, equipped with 30 exam rooms. Generous philanthropic and volunteer engagement has sustained Arkansas Children's since it began as an orphanage in 1912, and today ensures the system can deliver on its promise of unprecedented child health. To learn more, visit archildrens.org.

ABOUT UAMS

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,275 students, 890 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 12,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.

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