# Longitudinal Analyses of Antibody Responses to SARS-CoV-2

> **NIH NIH U54** · TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA · 2020 · $860,171

## Abstract

Project 1 Summary
We will conduct comprehensive studies of immune responses in human subjects who have current or past
infections with SARS-CoV-2. An overarching aim is to understand whether immune responses to CoV-2
infections confer protection against future repeat episodes of COVID19 and whether CoV-2 immunity is long
lasting. We propose the hypothesis that once immunocompetent human beings have had any form of
COVID19, they will never get the full disease again. On the other hand, long term follow-up studies of CoV-2
immunity in patients with cancer or any cause of immunodeficiency will include plans to look for reinfection and
repeat episodes of COVID19. There is a clear need for accurate serologic assays to determine who in a given
community has had infection with SARS CoV-2. Many assays marketed early in the pandemic are prone to
false positive and negative results. We plan to validate our efficient and sensitive immunoassays for routine
serodiagnosis of SARS CoV-2 infections. It should be admitted that even the best assay is going miss unusual
cases where a person tested positive by PCR but shows up negative in antibody tests. Although the antibody
assay could be falsely negative, it is also possible that the person was truly infected by did not develop
humoral immunity. In project 2, we will test the possibility that measuring T cell immunity may confirm that
even some antibody negative patients have immunity to the virus after all.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10222403
- **Project number:** 1U54CA260581-01
- **Recipient organization:** TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
- **Principal Investigator:** JAMES E Robinson
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $860,171
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-30 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10222403

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10222403, Longitudinal Analyses of Antibody Responses to SARS-CoV-2 (1U54CA260581-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10222403. Licensed CC0.

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