The research focus of this Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award application is the molecular analysis of the wound-sterilizing properties of medicinal maggots. The research plan embodies a laboratory-based investigation which is a natural extension of six years of clinical research I have conducted utilizing maggot debridement therapy. The primary goal of the research plan is to characterize the antimicrobial components elaborated by medicinal maggots as a step toward understanding their therapeutic mechanisms. The Specific Aims include: purification and characterization of maggot-derived antimicrobial peptides, analysis of the antimicrobial properties of isolated molecules, and, by characterizing the corresponding cDNAs, determining the primary structures of the precursor proteins. The career development goal of the proposal is to acquire the theoretical and laboratory training that will enable me to establish an independent research program focused on the molecular characterization of maggot-host interactions. By carrying out the proposed experiments, and by participating in a course of didactic study required of Ph.D. students in UCI's Combined Program in Molecular Biology, Genetics, and Biochemistry, I should be able to obtain the tools and perspective to achieve this goal. I have obtained institutional commitments that will allow me to devote at least 80% effort to project over the term of the award. The research and training elements of the proposal have been developed in consultation with Dr. Michael Selsted, with whom I have worked for the last year and who has agreed to act as research mentor. The research will be conducted in Dr. Selsted's laboratory. This is a ideal environment for conducting the proposed research and for obtaining state-of-the-art molecular training, given the Selsted group's expertise in the field of host-defense biology.