Federal Grant Award Summary

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) awarded a $815,762 Project Grant to The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) on February 19, 2026. The award supports a five-year research initiative (through January 31, 2031) focused on advancing quantitative understanding of biophysical constraints on antibody affinity maturation against SARS-CoV-2 spike variants. The research deliverables include high-throughput characterization of millions of anti-spike antibody sequences to measure expression, affinity, and self-reactivity using mammalian cell-display methods; evaluation of antibody biophysical properties' contributions to B-cell fitness using longitudinally-sampled patient samples; and development of quantitative predictive models for affinity maturation outcomes in human antibody repertoires.

The project integrates basic immunological research with translational applications to understand evolutionary constraints on broadly neutralizing antibody development against rapidly evolving viral antigens. Research activities will be conducted at UCSF's San Francisco facility and are expected to produce peer-reviewed publications, datasets characterizing antibody mutation impacts, and computational models applicable to vaccine development and therapeutic antibody design. The award represents NIAID's investment in investigator-initiated biomedical research addressing infectious disease mechanisms through competitive peer review under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program framework.