# Role of IL-22/IL-22RA2 during pneumococcal pneumonia

> **NIH NIH K01** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2021 · $167,292

## Abstract

This application is for a K01 Mentored Career Development Award to Promote Faculty Diversity in
Biomedical Research. Dr. Trevejo-Nunez will investigate the role of IL-22/ IL-22RA2 during pneumococcal
pneumonia. In United States, pneumococcal pneumonia (lung infection caused by S. pneumoniae) accounts
for significant percentage of morbidity and mortality. The most vulnerable population are children younger than
2 years old and individuals older than 65.
 The candidate has data that shows IL-22 signaling in the liver is important for control of pneumococcal
pneumonia and that treatment with the cytokine IL-22 improves bacterial burden. The overall hypothesis is
that enhancement of IL-22 signaling, through therapeutic administration of IL-22 or absence of decoy
recptor IL-22RA2, favors bacterial clearance and host survival by sustaining the levels of STAT3
activation in lung epithelium and liver during in pneumococcal pneumonia. To test this hypothesis, the
candidate proposes 1) Define the lung cellular sources of endogenous decoy receptor IL-22RA2 in the
uninfected hosts and during pneumococcal pneumonia. 2) Test the prediction that enhanced IL-22RA1
signaling in target tissues controls bacterial burden during pneumococcal pneumonia. 3) Test the prediction
that enhanced IL-22 signaling results in sustained STAT-3 activation imdependent of gp130/SOCS3 in lung
epithelium and liver.
 Dr. Trevejo-Nunez is Postdoctoral Associate of Pediatrics/ Instructor of Medicine at the University of
Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She proposes a career development plan that focuses on: one- to- one
meetings with her mentor Dr. Jay Kolls every week, learning mouse model of infection using transgenic and
conditional knockout mice, attending academic coursework to strengthen her foundation in immunology,
statistics, experimental design and grant writing; participating in responsible conduct of research workshops,
meeting with her review advisory committee every 6 months, attending conferences and publishing
manuscripts as first author. Dr. Trevejo-Nunez's long term goal is to become an independent physician-
scientist with particular expertise in the immunology and host response against S. pneumoniae lung infection.
The candidate also plans to gather enough information and analysis of data to apply for R01 funding at the end
of this award.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10198015
- **Project number:** 5K01HL135476-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Giraldina Trevejo-Nunez
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $167,292
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-15 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10198015

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10198015, Role of IL-22/IL-22RA2 during pneumococcal pneumonia (5K01HL135476-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10198015. Licensed CC0.

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