Federal Grant Award Summary

Rockefeller University received a $862,748 Project Grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855), awarded February 23, 2026, with a completion date of January 31, 2031. The award funds investigator-initiated research focused on elucidating the host and viral determinants of treatment response in chronic Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection. The research addresses the global health burden of chronic HBV, which affects more than 250 million people and causes approximately 800,000 deaths annually from HBV-related complications, including liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.

The project examines the molecular mechanisms underlying differential treatment responses to approved HBV therapies, specifically nucleoside analogs and interferon-alpha, with particular attention to the role of viral mutations in the basal core promoter and precore regions and host immune factors that determine whether patients achieve functional cure. This basic and translational research contributes to NIAID's mission of advancing scientific knowledge of infectious disease mechanisms and developing improved therapeutic interventions to enhance health outcomes for chronically infected populations.