Fisher Center Discovery Award (FCDA)
The Fisher Center Discovery Award (FCDA) aims to support research projects that focus on improving the understanding of human illness, patient outcomes, or public health in North America. The award is specifically designed for trainees, new investigators, and junior faculty looking to acquire pilot data and grant-writing experience. The goals of the FCDA are:
- To promote research by awarding funds to
support projects focused on clinical or translational research in one or more
of THREE topic areas:
- Environmental infectious diseases, which include human disease-causing agents found in ecological environments such as air, soil, and water; vector-borne or zoonotic diseases; and those found in built environments like home, hospital, and community
- Antimicrobial resistance
- Post-infectious conditions such as long COVID or persistent symptoms after Lyme disease treatment (PTLD) or after mononucleosis infection.
- To provide expertise, resources, and mentorship opportunities for pilot or clinical studies with a relative lack of traditional funding mechanisms
- To promote novel, cross-disciplinary, collaborative clinical research among schools at Johns Hopkins University and with non-Johns Hopkins University research partners
- To facilitate the careers of early career researchers (faculty or trainees) by providing funds for projects joined with a more senior investigator capable of providing hands-on training and mentoring in the science of clinical investigation
Basic laboratory research proposals will not be reviewed. Laboratory-based research will be considered only if it is directly related to clinical or translational research. International projects may be considered only if relevant to North American healthcare and if the work cannot be readily performed domestically. Any full-time faculty members or trainees from Johns Hopkins University, including the Schools of Medicine, Public Health, Nursing, Engineering, Business, Arts and Sciences, and Applied Physics Lab, may apply and act as principal investigator.
Application Timeline
Letter of Intent Deadline: November 3, 2025: 11:59 pm
Application Deadline: November 21, 2025: 11:59 pm
Award Notice: On or before March 6, 2026
Release of Funds: April 6 - April 30, 2026
This timeline may be subject to change. Please email [email protected] with any questions.
| Description | |
|---|---|
| Project Topics | Must involve one or more of three areas:
|
| Eligible Applicants | Full-time JH faculty or trainees (with a JH faculty mentor) from any school or department/division |
| Eligible Principal Investigators | Full-time JH faculty from any school or department/division |
| Budget | Up to $65,000.00 |
| Personnel Support | No salary support beyond the level of Associate Professor |
| Number of Available Grants | Up to five (5) projects |
| Grant Period | 12 months after start, with an option for one 12-month NCE |
| Project Start Date | April 6 – April 30, 2026 |
| Application Deadline | Friday, November 21, 2025 |
|
Application Documents |
2026 FCDA Document Library may be found at the links below or by submitting a request to Diane Lanham ([email protected]): |
| Other Application Documents (To be created by the applicant) |
|
Letter of Intent is not required, but is encouraged
2026 FDCA LOI Form
Submit LOI via email to [email protected] before 11:59 pm on November 3, 2025
To apply for the Fisher Center Discovery Award (12 months, $65,000):
- Submit all documents via email to [email protected] before 11:59pm on November 21, 2025
- Save all documents as individual files; do not combine documents
- The complete FCDA application package is composed of the following:
- FCDA Application Form 2026
- Research Protocol: Abstract, background, objectives, methods, timeline, proposal benefits, endnotes
- Biosketch, Curriculum Vitae, or resume (saved as individual files) for:
- Principal investigator
- Co-investigator(s)
- All individuals included on the study team
- Letter of support from the faculty preceptor for applicants who are not JHU faculty
- Optional, but encouraged: Letters of support from collaborators and research partners (saved as individual files)
- FCDA Budget Template 2026
- Written justification of salary requests exceeding 50% of the monetary award, if necessary
- Written justification of laboratory supplies, equipment, and service requests exceeding 50% of the monetary award, if necessary
FCDA Past Awardees
Principal Investigators were Johns Hopkins University faculty at the time of award. Co-investigators are not listed.
| Year | Principal Investigator | Project Title |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Shahbaz Khan, PhD | Repurposing Acyltransferase Inhibitors for Toxoplasma Drug Development |
| 2025 | Nate Permpalung, MD, MPH | Impact of neighborhood-level environmental and social determinants of health on invasive fungal infection risk |
| 2025 | Gyanu Lamichhane, PhD | A search for phages and synergistic drug combinations to treat environmentally acquired non-tuberculous mycobacterial diseases |
| 2025 | David Dowdy, MD, PhD | Predicting West Nile virus risk in Maryland using machine learning and local data |
| 2025 | Andrew Karaba, MD, PhD | Assessing Immunity against Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Immunocompromised Persons |
| 2025 | Thomas M. Hart, PhD |
Exploring Borrelia burgdorferi host sensing as a Lyme disease vaccine target |
| 2024 | Annie Antar, MD, PhD | Modeling SARS-CoV-2 Reservoirs as a Platform to Advance Long COVID Therapeutics |
| 2024 | Johan Melendez, PhD |
Characterizing the evolution of antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae mediated by exchange of genetic material |
| 2024 | James Gordy, PhD |
Analysis of Borrelia burgdorferi derived extracellular vesicles from serum to identify persistent infection and the role of the Bb stringent response |
| 2024 | Elizabeth Thompson, PhD |
Targeting immunometabolic regulation to mediate recovery in post-acute sequalae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) |
| 2023 | Maxim Rosario, D.Phil., PhD, MSc, MB BCh BAO |
Optimizing the Selection of Donors for Adoptive Cell Therapy for Environment Fungal Infections |
| 2023 | Kimia Ghobadi, PhD James C. Fackler, MD |
Creation of a comprehensive microbiogram, visualizing the microbe prevalences in real-time at the neighborhood level |
| 2022 | Monica Mugnier, PhD |
Defining the immune mechanisms mediating congenital transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi |
| 2022 | Carsten Prasse, PhD |
Antiviral drugs as previously unrecognized contributors to antibiotic resistance |
| 2022 | Santosh Dhakal, DVM, PhD |
Antibody dynamics as the biomarkers of COVID-19 outcomes among hospitalized patients |
| 2022 |
Mark Ranek, PhD |
Targeting the confluence of obesity and COVID-19 |
| 2022 | Sam Das, PhD | Fully automated at-home COVID-19 test |
| 2021 | Netz Arroyo, PhD |
Point-of-need platform for population-scale monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies |
| 2021 | Challice Bonifant, MD PhD |
H84T-BanLec CAR-NK Cells as Treatment for SARS-CoV-2 Infection |
| 2021 | Karen Carroll, MD |
Next Generation Sequencing for Pathogen Identification in Lower Respiratory Infections |
| 2021 | Meghan Frost Davis, DVM, MPH PhD |
Immunologic markers associated with environmental exposure to enterotoxin-producing Staphylococcus aureus |
| 2021 | Maged Mohamed Harraz, MBBCh, MSc, PhD |
Autophagic degradation of ACE2 as a Therapeutic Target in Covid-19 |
| 2021 | Nitipong “Nate” Permapalung, MD, MPH |
Optimizing Diagnostics for Environmentally Acquired Fungal Pneumonia Complicating COVID-19 |
| 2021 | Matthew Robinson, MD |
A comprehensive suite of web tools to predict COVID-19 trajectory |
| 2021 | Maxim Rosario, D.Phil., MB BCH BAO, MSc PhD |
Adoptive NK cell Therapy for Acquired Fungal Infection |
| 2020 | Keira Cohen, MD |
Early bactericidal activity of standard drugs used to treat Mycobacterium avium complex: a pilot study |
| 2020 | Gyanu Lamichhane, PhD |
Developing antibiotic regimen to treat M. abscessus disease based on whole genome mining |
| 2020 | Michael Melia, MD |
Beta-d-glucan and galactomannan curriculum |
| 2020 |
Heba Mostafa, MD, PhD |
Genomic Surveillance of Enteroviruses' Polymorphic Events that Correlate with Disease Severity and Neuro-virulence |
| 2020 | David Sullivan, MD |
Murine Babesia Combination Chemotherapy |
| 2020 | Sean Zhang, MD, PhD |
POC.auris: A 15-minute point-of-care detection of multi-drug resistant Candida auris |
| 2018 | Kimberly M. Davis, PhD | The role of amoebae in enhancing the virulence of human environmental pathogens |
| 2018 | Anthony K.L. Leung, PhD | Understanding how virus virulence is regulated by the ADP-ribosylhyrolase activity of the macrodomain--a potential drug target |
| 2018 | Brian Garibaldi, MD | Environmental transmission and traceability of aerosolized bio-stimulants in a clinical biocontainment unit |
| 2017 | Aaron Milstone, MD | Impact of heterogeneous resistance mechanisms on hospital transmission of Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) |
| 2017 | Keeve Nachman, PhD | Building a baseline for assessing the human health impact of a landmark legislative intervention on antibiotic use in industrial poultry production |
| 2017 | Evan Bloch, MD | African BAOBAB(Babsia Observational Antibody) Study |
| 2016 | Brian Schwartz, MD, MS | High-density poultry operations and associated infectious disease risks |
| 2016 | Patricia Simner, PhD | Molecular Epidemiology of Carbapenem-Resistant Gram- Negative Organisms (CROs) at Johns Hopkins Hospital: Do Patients Infected with CROs Contaminate the Hospital Room Environment? |
| 2016 | Diane Griffin, MD, PhD | The role of nsP3 in neurovirulence of chikungunya virus |
| 2016 | Petros Karakousis, MD | Identifying molecular targets for preventing multi-drug tolerance in Mycobacterium avium infection |
| 2015 | Trish Perl, MD | The Home Environment: Infections Among Patients Discharged Home with Venous Catheters |
| 2015 | Margaret Kosek, MD | Salivary diagnostics for pathogens of clinical significance in childhood environmental enteropathy |
| 2015 | Kieren Marr, MD | Diagnostics for latent histoplasmosis |
| 2014 | Nicole Parrish, PhD | Characterization of β-lactam Resistance in Enterobacteriaceae Isolated from the Chesapeake Bay and Upper Watershed |
| 2014 | Pranita Tamma, MD, MHS | An evidence-based screening approach to identify children at high risk for harboring multi-drug resistant Gram-negative organisms in the PICU |
| 2014 | Elizabeth Matsui, MD, MHS | Home Environmental Exposure to Staphylococcal Bacteria and Asthma Exacerbation |
| 2014 | Christine George, PhD | Identifying Environmental Transmission Routes for Shigellosis in Rural Settings using Pulsed-field Gel Electrophoresis |
| 2014 | Priya Duggal, PhD, MPH | Host Genetic Susceptibility to Cryptosporidia Infection |
| 2014 | Mark Soloski, PhD | T Cell Effector Responses in Tick-Borne Lyme Borreliosis |
| 2013 | Trish Perl, MD | Clostridium difficile: Impact of colonization versus transmission on development of infection |
| 2013 | Aaron Milstone, MD, MHS | Development and Clinical Evaluation of Laboratory Methods to Identify Reduced Antiseptic Susceptibility in Organisms Causing Healthcare Associated Infections |
| 2013 | Megan Reller, MD, MPH | Detection of Unrecognized Tick-borne Febrile illness in the Upper Midwest and Northeast US |
| 2013 | Christopher Heaney, PhD | Evolutionary dynamics of multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MDRSA), a zoonotic pathogen of clinical significance, among industrial food animal production workers |
| 2013 | Cynthia Sears, MD | Does Disruption of Host Microbiota Modify Colorectal Cancer Risk? |