# Immune mediated lung injury in COVID-19

> **NIH VA I01** · VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION · 2021 · —

## Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 and the disease it causes (COVID-19) has emerged as a major global public
health threat in the span of a few months. In particular, SARS-CoV-2 adds to the present
number of acute respiratory infections, including influenza and bacterial pneumonia, which are
endangering the health of our veterans and aging population. In particular, severe COVID-19
disease is characterized by severe lung injury, which results in severely impaired oxygen
delivery and ultimately multiple organ failure and death. Our ongoing research has focused on a
population of white blood cells called neutrophils, which are the most abundant white blood cell
in our body and which have been shown to be a pivotal immune cell that contributes greatly to
lung injury. However, our current medical knowledge is inadequate for understanding what
neutrophils do in the context of viral infection. Although neutrophils are critical for eliminating
many types of infections, they are believed to be a major contributor to the development of lung
injury, and how to balance their beneficial activities with their harmful functions is poorly
understood. Therefore, a better understanding of how neutrophils behavior and phenotype are
altered during severe SARS-CoV-2 and other viral infections would aid in developing novel
therapies to improve their antimicrobial functions, while limiting their injurious effects. The
research we propose in this grant will examine how well neutrophils eliminate SARS-CoV-2
viruses, or if they are an excessively activated population of immune cells recruited to the lung
whose harmful activities outweighs their benefits. We also will test an exciting new treatment
approach developed by our collaborator at UCLA to see if this can block the damaging effects of
neutrophils on lung cells, while blocking viral replication. The results of this 2-year project will
provide insights into the beneficial versus harmful contributions of neutrophils in the
development of severe COVID-19 disease, and potentially identify new therapies to benefit
veterans and other vulnerable patients.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10154065
- **Project number:** 1I01BX005447-01
- **Recipient organization:** VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
- **Principal Investigator:** Jane C Deng
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-04-01 → 2023-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10154065

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10154065, Immune mediated lung injury in COVID-19 (1I01BX005447-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10154065. Licensed CC0.

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