Federal Project Grant Award Summary

Yale University received a $681,277 Project Grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) under the Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866), awarded May 15, 2026, with completion targeted for April 30, 2031. The research project, titled "Cell Size Inheritance and Innate Immune Memory," investigates the mechanisms by which immune cells enlarge without triggering senescence—a pathological state characterized by irreversible cell cycle arrest associated with aging. The primary deliverables include scientific research findings on the FBP17 endocytic protein pathway, which regulates cell size setpoint in mast cells and macrophages while preserving proliferative capacity. The research utilizes single-cell microchannel systems to monitor real-time cell growth and quantify size homeostasis, with particular focus on monocyte cell size variations in aged versus young mice and the relationship between FBP17 expression, cell enlargement, and exhaustion-like immune memory states.

The project addresses a critical gap in understanding how enlarged innate immune cells maintain immune surveillance without transitioning into senescence, with implications for sepsis detection and age-related immune dysfunction. Research outputs will include peer-reviewed publications, experimental data characterizing the adder growth mechanism in FBP17-deficient cells, and mechanistic insights into transgenerational cellular memory. These findings are intended to advance NIA's mission of understanding aging processes and age-related diseases through biomedical research, potentially informing diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for age-related immune compromise and infection-related pathologies.