# Center for Clinical and Translational Science

> **NIH NIH UL1** · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · 2020 · $587,941

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
The pandemic prompted by the novel SARS-COV-2 virus continues to have a devastating impact on the health
of communities, clinically, socially and economically. Preventive approaches require an understanding of the
virus prevalence and herd immunity in the general population. To evaluate the sero-prevalence of immunity
against SARS-COV-2 in the United States, this scientific partnership of academic medical centers and the
NIH’s intramural research program will examine the population prevalences of detectable antibodies to SARS-
COV-2 from a convenience sampling of adults in the U.S. who have not been diagnosed with COVID-19 (Aim
1) and will determine the immune attributes associated with health outcomes (Aim 2), including for those in
underrepresented populations and across the life course. From a cohort of >400,000 self-referred,
asymptomatic adults nationwide, a near-representative subset will be selected based on demographics such
as age, race/ethnicity, and geography to provide blood samples for characterization of antibodies and other
immunologic markers to inform the development of screening and neutralization assays. This work benefits
from the deep expertise in the basic and applied research of infectious diseases as well as viral vaccine
development, host immune response to viruses, and viral molecular biology and genetics at the National
Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). It also leverages the rigorous and efficient capacity
maintained by Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Hubs to rapidly engage diverse cohorts of
participants nationally to accelerate translational research that is high priority scientifically and for eventual
public health practice. From this study, the collaborative team will gain crucial insights into the magnitude of the
COVID-19 pandemic across the country and will identify potential targets for a vaccine. These data are
essential to assess the impact of public health efforts and to guide ongoing COVID-19 response.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10155780
- **Project number:** 3UL1TR003096-02S2
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM
- **Principal Investigator:** Robert P. Kimberly
- **Activity code:** UL1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $587,941
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2019-05-06 → 2024-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10155780

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10155780, Center for Clinical and Translational Science (3UL1TR003096-02S2). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10155780. Licensed CC0.

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