Project Grant R21AI202820

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases awarded Emory University $233,118 on August 17, 2026, under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) to decode the mechanistic rules governing respiratory virus transmission through integrated analysis of ferret contact patterns and viral dynamics.

The project addresses gaps in understanding influenza A virus transmission routes—contact, droplet, airborne, and fomite—by combining video datasets from controlled ferret transmission experiments, daily viral load measurements, and high-resolution behavioral tracking using SLEAP (Social Leap Estimates Animal Poses), an open-source deep learning system. Aim 1 extracts time-resolved behavioral data from recorded ferret experiments to generate quantitative exposure histories for each recipient ferret, including contact duration, distance relative to infected donors, and object-sharing interaction sequences. These data will classify behavioral patterns, identify features most predictive of infection outcomes, and construct exposure matrices linking donor and recipient ferrets. Aim 2 integrates behavioral metrics with within-host viral dynamic models to infer mechanistic transmission kernels—mathematical functions describing how infection probability scales with viral load, contact duration, proximity, and fomite-mediated exposure. Bayesian hierarchical methods will account for experimental heterogeneity and estimate biologically interpretable parameters such as per-minute transmission hazard and fomite decay rate.

Performance occurs at Atlanta, Georgia. The period of performance runs through July 31, 2028.