This Project Grant award, in the amount of $370,500, was provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855). The award aims to define the epitopes recognized by neutralizing antibodies targeting the immunodominant antigenic site G on the norovirus capsid protein. This research will directly visualize the chronological shift in antibody immunodominance towards this site, which is critical for...
This $188,980 Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (CFDA 93.855 Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research) aims to elucidate the role of intestinal M cells in rotavirus infection, systemic dissemination, and pathogenesis. Specifically, the research will determine the extraintestinal tissues and cell types targeted by rotavirus following oral inoculation, and use mouse models lacking intestinal M cells to study the role of these specialized cells in...
This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855), provides $233,528.00 to Childrens Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio to conduct a comprehensive systems analysis of the immune responses to norovirus infection in a human challenge model. The key objectives are to delineate the transcriptomic responses in human peripheral blood and stool samples collected...
This $1,696,146 federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) supports research to identify and evaluate HIV-1 vaccine strategies focused on the "apex" epitope of the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein. The key objectives are to: 1) refine the definition of HIV-1 broadly neutralizing antibody precursors with long, tyrosine-sulfated heavy-chain CDR3 regions that can...
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) awarded a $1,462,682 Project Grant (CFDA 93.855 - Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research) to The Ohio State University. The grant, effective June 5, 2024 through April 30, 2029, will support research to develop a mucosal subunit vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 that is effective against variants and generates long-lasting mucosal immunity. The research will test the hypothesis that a BCFA/alum-adjuvanted subunit vaccine containing...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855), provides $668,569 to The Schepens Eye Research Institute, Inc. to characterize and optimize a novel genetic vaccine platform called PARVAX. The key objectives are to: Investigate the mechanism behind the potency and durability of the PARVAX platform, which has demonstrated sustained immunity and protection against SARS-CoV-2...
This $682,008 Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855), aims to advance the development of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for the treatment of infectious diseases caused by paramyxoviruses, with a specific focus on parainfluenza virus (PIV). The key objectives are to: 1) define the human B cell repertoire to PIV surface proteins, 2) determine the optimal therapeutic...
This $41,075,241 Cooperative Agreement award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (CFDA 93.855 - Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research) is focused on developing end-to-end strategies for pandemic preparedness vaccine development against bunyaviruses and paramyxoviruses. The project brings together five research institutions to work on computational methods for vaccine and biologics design, fundamental research on viral entry and receptors, antigen design, protein...
This $742,463 Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) supports research to develop HIV vaccine immunogens that can induce broadly neutralizing antibodies. The project will leverage bioinformatics, machine learning, and in vitro studies to select HIV envelope proteins that maximize exposure of epitopes recognized by broadly neutralizing antibodies, including the CD4...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855), provides $161,616 to the University of Vermont to conduct research on the development of mucosal immunity to poliovirus. The key objectives are to: Characterize human immune responses during oral poliovirus (OPV) vaccination to identify immunological targets associated with effective mucosal immunity. Investigate the impact...
This $798,173 Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) supports the development of novel multivalent mucosal vaccines for human noroviruses (HuNoVs). The research aims to create live-vectored vaccine platforms using FDA-approved rotavirus (RotaTeq) and measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccines as the delivery vehicles. The researchers will insert HuNoV capsid (VP1) genes and protrusion (P) domains from prevalent genotypes into the RotaTeq and MMR vaccine strains to generate multivalent vaccines capable of inducing broad systemic and mucosal immunity against HuNoVs. The project will evaluate the immunogenicity of these vaccine candidates in mice, hamsters, and gnotobiotic piglets, the only small animal challenge model for HuNoVs. The goal is to develop safe, effective, and broadly protective mucosal HuNoV vaccines that can advance to non-human primate and human clinical trials. This award will fund this research from May 1, 2025 through April 30, 2030.