Project Grant R01AI199095

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases awarded The Ohio State University $3.1 million on September 1, 2026, under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) to investigate CD8 T cell mechanisms of influenza virus clearance and pathology in cardiac tissue.

The research addresses viral myocarditis, detected in up to 40 percent of hospitalized influenza patients and linked to higher risk of heart failure and death. Using a newly developed heart-tropic, mouse-adapted influenza strain, the work will determine the kinetics, transcriptional programming, and effector phenotypes of infiltrating CD8 T cells during acute cardiac infection; define cell-intrinsic cytolytic and cytokine-mediated non-cytolytic pathways that promote viral clearance through genetic knockouts and in vivo fate tracking of infected cardiomyocytes; and establish whether virus-specific CD8 tissue-resident memory T cells persist in the heart and orchestrate recall responses to heterologous challenge. The studies aim to illuminate how tissue-specific cues shape antiviral T cell function, establish immune correlates distinguishing influenza virus clearance from immunopathology, and advance understanding of host-pathogen interactions relevant to seasonal and emerging influenza viruses.

Performance occurs in Columbus, Ohio. The period of performance runs from September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2030.