Federal Project Grant Award Summary

Northwestern University's Sponsored Research Division received a $440,000 Project Grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855), awarded February 5, 2026, with a completion date of January 31, 2028. The research, performed at Northwestern's Chicago, Illinois facility, investigates neutrophil priming as a novel method for training macrophage functional memory to modulate inflammatory responses in autoimmune diseases, particularly rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

The project delivers fundamental immunological research examining the mechanisms by which primed neutrophils instruct macrophage activity through contact-dependent and soluble factor interactions, with the objective of developing therapeutic strategies that limit damaging inflammation while elevating pro-repair macrophage functions. This research addresses the clinical challenge of preventing disease flares and maintaining remission states in autoimmune conditions by establishing innate immune memory through neutrophil-macrophage crosstalk, utilizing experimental approaches including transwell studies and dynamic tissue interaction analysis across multiple inflammation models.