Project Grant R01AI202709

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases awarded Seattle Children's Research Institute $1,033,950 on August 1, 2026, under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) to develop a tuberculosis vaccine regimen optimized to induce lung-resident T cells.

The project, titled "A Prime-Pull TB Vaccine Regimen Optimized to Induce Lung-Resident T Cells," focuses on identifying and testing mRNA-lipid nanoparticle vaccine candidates designed to generate protective CD4 and CD8 T resident memory cells in the lungs. The work builds on a three-year collaboration between Akagera Medicines, Inc. and Seattle Children's Research Institute that has produced two lead vaccine candidates currently undergoing head-to-head testing. The vaccine development plan incorporates innovations intended to improve immunogenicity, efficacy, and safety, and employs novel testing approaches in mice to measure new protection metrics including prevention of detectable infection and discernment of protective differences between vaccine candidates and regimens. The project uses a prime-pull immunization strategy in which a robust peripheral T cell response is generated and subsequently targeted to lung tissue.

Place of performance is Seattle, Washington. The award runs through July 31, 2031, as a Project Grant assistance type.