Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) awarded $516,410 to the Regents of the University of Michigan on April 23, 2026, under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) to develop precision biomaterials and technologies for monitoring antigen-specific immune cells. This Project Grant, with a completion date of March 31, 2031, aims to advance the characterization of rare antigen-specific immune cell populations in vivo without requiring biopsies of vital organs or costly ex vivo cell expansion. The research will leverage implantable biomaterials and drug delivery strategies to enrich antigen-specific cells at accessible pre-defined locations in the body, enabling direct harvest and analysis of large numbers of these cells from inflamed tissue.

The project builds on preliminary findings demonstrating that antigen-loaded biomaterials can enrich antigen-specific CD4 T cells, with planned expansion to examine varied antigen-loading methods, impacts on other antigen-specific cell types, and the mechanistic basis for cell enrichment. Ultimately, the research will validate whether antigen-loaded materials provide improved models of target tissue immune function compared to unloaded materials and will test these approaches in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis to monitor adaptive immune cell-targeting treatments. The deliverables are expected to establish novel diagnostic and monitoring tools supporting precision medicine strategies in autoimmunity and infectious disease management.