Project Grant R21AI196369

The Baruch S. Blumberg Institute received a $195,750 Project Grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855), effective February 10, 2026 through January 31, 2028. The award supports the development and validation of a novel hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection reporter system designed to enable unbiased genome-wide screening of host factors involved in HBV infection. This innovative system employs RNA sensing and editing mechanisms—specifically leveraging ADAR (adenosine deaminase acting on RNA) to conditionally translate reporter genes—without modifying the viral genome itself, thereby permitting comprehensive loss-of-function screens using sgRNA, cDNA, and chemical libraries.

The primary deliverables under this grant include further validation of the HBV infection reporter assay and identification of host factors required for early stages of HBV infection and viral genome amplification. The research aims to overcome previous limitations in HBV-hepatocyte interaction studies by moving beyond conventional focused genetic screens toward systematic, unbiased approaches. By enabling cell culture-based infection-dependent survival screening with puromycin selection, this platform is intended to facilitate the most comprehensive loss-of-function analyses to date, ultimately supporting drug discovery and therapeutic development efforts against the chronic HBV infection affecting approximately 254 million people globally.