Project Grant R01AI198420

Federal Grant Award Summary

Yale University received a $632,078 Project Grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855), effective July 7, 2026 through June 30, 2031. The award funds fundamental biomedical research to identify the mechanisms by which industrial chemical compounds present in the modern environment can trigger allergic immune responses in the intestine through cutaneous (skin) exposure pathways. Specifically, the research will investigate how xenobiotic receptors on skin cells sense industrial compounds and activate downstream signaling cascades that promote allergic inflammation, with particular focus on a process termed "remote priming" wherein skin injury or compound exposure can reprogram intestinal immune cells to mount allergic responses to orally ingested allergens through alarmin signaling.

The project addresses a significant public health gap regarding the rising incidence of allergic diseases in industrialized nations by elucidating how chemicals in the human exposome—the cumulative environmental chemical exposure environment—access the skin barrier and alter physiologic programming to license allergic sensitization. The research will generate mechanistic insights into how industrial compounds function as adjuvants to amplify allergic responses both locally at the skin and systemically in distant tissues, ultimately advancing the scientific understanding of allergic disease pathogenesis relevant to prevention and therapeutic intervention strategies.