Dr. Sanghyuk Shin Receives $450K Grant for UCI Infectious Disease Science Initiative

Sanghyuk Shin, PhD
Assistant Professor

UCI Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing Assistant Professor Sanghyuk Shin, PhD, has received a three-year grant award ($150K per year) from the UCI Provost to fund the UCI Infectious Disease Initiative which aims to establish UCI as a global leader in research and education on emerging infections and antibiotic resistance.

Recent increases in multidrug-resistant TB, HIV, pathogenic E. coli, and malaria pose grave concerns about our ability to effectively treat these diseases moving forward. UCI’s world-class academics and strong culture of collaboration make it an ideal campus on which to develop an interdisciplinary initiative to better understand the complex interplay of biological, behavioral, social, environmental, and evolutionary processes that drive multidrug-resistance. 

The UCI Infectious Disease Science Initiative will take advantage of UCI’s existing collaborative academic infrastructure and the unparalleled opportunities provided by recent technological and methodological developments, including next-generation genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics to fill the gaps in knowledge about multidrug-resistance. In addition, researchers will leverage the exponential growth in the availability of “real-life” social, behavioral, and environmental data generated from increasing connectivity and wireless sensors.   

“With this initiative, SON will take the lead on bringing the UCI campus together to generate ground-breaking new knowledge on how infectious diseases spread in local and global communities,” says Dr. Shin. 

Current projects under development:

• Developing new computer models to understand the spread of infectious diseases, predict future outbreaks, and inform strategies to control an epidemic.
• Determining the impact of climate change on multi-drug resistant infections.
• Evaluating the effect of population food insecurity and malnutrition on sepsis dynamics in the United States.
• Elucidating the changing dynamics of tuberculosis (TB) transmission as HIV treatment expands in Africa.