The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has awarded three new Centers for Accelerating Phage Therapy to Combat ESKAPE Pathogens (CAPT-CEP) — the first coordinated U.S. research network dedicated to building the preclinical tools, assays, and models needed to translate bacteriophage (phage) therapy into a reliable treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections.

The ESKAPE pathogens — Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species — drive the majority of multidrug-resistant infections in hospitals worldwide. Phages, viruses that kill bacteria, are a promising response, but clinical outcomes remain inconsistent. Established under RFA-AI-24-069, CAPT-CEP was created to close the preclinical gaps — in pharmacology, formulation, delivery, and predictive modeling — that have held the field back.

The three centers, listed alphabetically by institution, approach the same problem from complementary directions:

• The Center for PhAIge Therapy — Gladstone Institutes. Program Director: Seth Shipman, PhD. Applies an engineering framework to phage–bacteria interactions, decomposing phages into modular functional units to predict and design their behavior against Klebsiella pneumoniae. Combines high-throughput experimental platforms with deep-learning models and human organoid systems. Investigators: Seth Shipman, Sukrit Silas, Katie Pollard, Melanie Ott (Gladstone Institutes).
• The Center for Phage Pharmaceuticals — Stanford University. Program Director: Paul Bollyky, MD, PhD. A first-of-its-kind program dedicated to phage pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (PK/PD). Integrates nuclear medicine imaging with advanced cell culture and animal models to study and optimize respiratory phage delivery, beginning with Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in cystic fibrosis. Investigators: Paul Bollyky, Corinne Beinat, Francis Blankenberg, Kathy Ferrara, Adam Frymoyer, Carlos Milla, Jessica Sacher, Ann Van Haney (Stanford University); Susan Birket (University of Alabama at Birmingham); Nick Smith (University at Buffalo).
• The Pitt Center for Accelerating Phage Therapy — University of Pittsburgh. Co-Directors: Daria Van Tyne, PhD (University of Pittsburgh) and Alexander Sulakvelidze, PhD (Intralytix, Inc.). Develops rigorous assays and tools to optimize phage cocktail design and dosing, using respiratory P. aeruginosa infection as a test case. Leverages phages already administered to patients under compassionate use and in clinical trials, biospecimens from dozens of phage therapy patients, and an industry pathway through Intralytix, Inc. Investigators: Daria Van Tyne, Vaughn Cooper, Timothy Corcoran, Ghady Haidar, Ryan Shields (University of Pittsburgh); David D’Argenio, Gauri Rao (University of Southern California); Mikeljon Nikolich (Walter Reed Army Institute of Research); Peter Di (Florida International University); Jennifer Schwartz, Alexander Sulakvelidze (Intralytix, Inc.).

Together, the three centers will share assays, reference materials, and findings through quarterly cross-center scientific exchange meetings, and are exploring a common NCBI-hosted database to harmonize phage data across the program. The CAPT-CEP awards mark a shift for phage therapy: from compassionate-use case reports toward standardized, reproducible, regulator-ready science.

About the program

CAPT-CEP was established by NIAID under RFA-AI-24-069 with the goal of developing the essential assays, tools, and models needed to accelerate phage therapeutics against the ESKAPE pathogens. NIAID awarded $6M in FY 2026 to support 3 awards, each up to $1.2M in direct costs per year for up to five years.

Funding

The Center for PhAIge Therapy is supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number P01AI195327.

The Center for Phage Pharmaceuticals is supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number P01AI196047.

The Pitt Center for Accelerating Phage Therapy is supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number P01AI195376.

Story and photo credit: National Institutes of Health

Led by William Bain, MD, and Jana Jacobs, PhD, researchers from the Divisions of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine and Infectious Diseases helped uncover how vascular injury may drive life-threatening complications in viral respiratory infections.

Research led by Anita Saraf, MD, PhD, identified key cellular and molecular changes driving liver disease in patients with Fontan circulation, offering new insights into diagnosis, transplant timing, and potential future therapies.

New research led by Drs. Strollo and Patel found that the investigational oral therapy AD109 significantly reduced breathing interruptions and improved oxygen levels in adults with obstructive sleep apnea who could not tolerate CPAP.

In collaboration with researchers and clinicians at UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Julia Foldi is helping advance a first-of-its-kind vaccine study aimed at preventing breast cancer before it develops.

Drs. Mehret Birru Talabi, Lan Coffman, and Daria Van Tyne are among this year’s Health Sciences Ascending Star honorees, recognizing innovative midcareer faculty for excellence in research, mentorship, and impact.

Research coauthored by Dr. Scott Biggins found that liver transplant candidates denied MELD score exceptions for hepatocellular carcinoma had more aggressive tumor characteristics, reinforcing the importance of expert clinical review.

Dr. Krithika Rao was recognized for developing an open-access guide to biomedical research designed to enhance student learning and improve accessibility to course materials.