The Texas Medical Center Genomic Center for Infectious Diseases (TMC GCID) was established by the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in 2019. In 2024 it was renewed to continue the collaborative efforts of a multidisciplinary, integrated team of basic and physician scientists at multiple institutions — Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Texas-Houston School of Public Health, Houston Methodist Research Institute, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Rice University.

The TMC-GCID harnesses decades of experience in genomic sequencing, renowned clinical expertise and the use of novel ex vivo models of human intestinal and pulmonary function to create a platform for large scale genomics-based interrogation of host-mucosal pathogen interactions in the context of human tissues. The TMC-GCID utilizes this platform for the discovery of panels of therapeutic and diagnostic targets based on host and microbial genomic and transcriptomic profiles.

The result are a comprehensive genetic profiling of hosts and microbes in infection models that reveal pathogen genetic variants, as well as individual host response phenotypes that inform precision medicine-based therapeutics and diagnostics — not just for the pathogens in this proposal, but for a broad spectrum of mucosal diseases and their associated infectious agents that severely impact human health.

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