[CRFS Roster]

The Clinical Research and Field Studies of Infectious Diseases Study Section reviews applications that address population-based studies on the emergence, spread, control, and prevention of infectious diseases (including potential agents of bioterrorism) that affect humans.

Specific areas covered by CRFS:

• Design and execution of investigator-initiated clinical trials for testing agents or strategies for preventing or treating infectious diseases
• Identification of factors involved in the pathogenesis, emergence and spread of infectious diseases, including studies of vectors and the contribution of environmental and societal influences
• Field studies of strategies to control the transmission of infectious diseases by invertebrate vectors or reservoir hosts
• Diagnostics for the detection, identification, and surveillance of infectious diseases
• Molecular epidemiology of infectious diseases, including genetic characterization of both the pathogen and the host
• Studies that address the potential infectious etiology of human disease

CRFS has the following shared interests within the IDM IRG:

• With Host Interactions with Bacterial Pathogens [HIBP]:  Studies of bacterial diseases in human populations or in field-based settings could be assigned to CRFS.  Laboratory and model-based studies of bacterial disease could be assigned to HIBP.
  
  
• With Pathogenic Eukaryotes [PTHE]: Applications focused on laboratory and model-based studies could be assigned to PTHE.  Studies of protozoal, helminthic and fungal diseases in human populations or on field-based settings could be referred to CRFS.
  
  
• With Virology A [VIRA] and Virology B [VIRB]: Studies of viral disease involving human subjects could be assigned to CRFS.  Studies using animal models could be assigned to VIRA or VIRB.
  
  
• With Drug Discovery and Mechanisms of Antimicrobial Resistance [DDR]: Applications that focus on the preclinical aspects of drug discovery and development could be referred to DDR.  CRFS could consider proposals that devise clinical trials to test the efficacy of antimicrobial agents.

CRFS has the following shared interests outside the IDM IRG:

• With the Health of the Population [HOP] IRG: Studies of health status or health outcomes that employ epidemiological methods and that use persons or groups of persons as the unit of observation could be assigned to HOP.  Studies employing epidemiological methods that use cellular or subcellular units of observation could be assigned to CRFS.
  
  
• With the Musculoskeletal, Oral, and Skin Sciences [MOSS], Cardiovascular Sciences [CVS], Digestive Sciences [DIG], Respiratory Sciences [RES], and Renal and Urological Sciences [RUS] IRGs: When the focus of the application is on the infectious agent, assignment could be to CRFS; when the focus is on the tissue, assignment could be to the appropriate organ system.