Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) awarded $231,000 to the Regents of the University of Minnesota on June 15, 2026, under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) for a project extending through May 31, 2028. This Project Grant funds investigator-initiated biomedical research to establish definitive in vivo evidence demonstrating the contribution of natural killer (NK) cells to the clearance of Plasmodium erythrocytic stage parasites, addressing gaps in understanding blood-stage malaria infection mechanisms.

The research delivers scientific findings through two complementary innovative approaches: (1) conducting in vivo studies utilizing human NK cells and human anti-merozoite antibodies transplanted into immunodeficient mice to correlate the in vivo function of these human immune components with their laboratory activity against RH5, a leading blood-stage vaccine candidate, and (2) generating mechanistic data on antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity that overcomes biological differences between murine and human NK cell and Fc receptor systems. The research outputs will advance understanding of how antibodies confer protection against blood-stage malaria infection and inform development of more effective malaria therapeutics and vaccines to reduce the substantial global disease burden, including approximately 600,000 annual deaths and 200,000 associated miscarriages.