# eMERGE SARS-CoV-2 Supplement: Pulmonary, renal, and inflammatory components

> **NIH NIH U01** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2020 · $375,152

## Abstract

Abstract
As of May 4, 2020, more than 3.5M cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)
infection (COVID-19) and 250,000 deaths have been reported worldwide, with more than 1.2M cases and over
70,000 deaths in the United States. The severity of infection varies from no symptoms to respiratory failure and
death. Genetic factors appear to underlie some interindividual variability in SARS-CoV-2 infection outcomes.
Part of this heritability may be associated with host immune response, as lymphocyte measures at hospital
admission predict disease severity. It may be may also be important to understand whether an individual's
underlying or “baseline” lymphocyte count is a risk factor for infection and/or severe disease; a multiancestry
polygenic risk score for lymphocytes will be tested for its prediction of COVID-19 severity to address this
hypothesis. This supplemental project will improve 1) standardization of electronic health record phenotyping of
the pulmonary and renal complications of COVID-19 to improve transferability across sites; and 2) our
understanding of host genetic risk factors playing a role in disease severity. We propose to work within the aims
of eMERGE4 to study interindividual variability in COVID-19 severity by developing transferable EHR
phenotyping of pulmonary and renal outcomes, evaluating ABO blood group association and GWAS contrasting
those COVID-19 patients with respiratory failure (inpatient) with those who remained outpatients, and evaluating
whether a multi-ancestry PRS for lymphocytes predicts COVID severity. This project can stand on its own, but
we will gain power by pooling data across eMERGE and benefit by testing EHR phenotyping at multiple sites to
assure transferability. We will also broadly share any data.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10164629
- **Project number:** 3U01HG008657-06S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** David Russell Crosslin
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $375,152
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-09-11 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10164629

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10164629, eMERGE SARS-CoV-2 Supplement: Pulmonary, renal, and inflammatory components (3U01HG008657-06S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10164629. Licensed CC0.

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