# Respiratory Virus Vaccine and Adjuvant Exploration

> **NIH NIH U01** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2022 · $1,000,000

## Abstract

Vaccination represents one of the most effective public
health measures for protecting at risk populations from emerging pathogens. However, FDA approved
vaccines are lacking for the vast majority of emerging pathogens, and therefore new vaccines and
vaccination strategies are needed to protect susceptible populations from viruses such as MERS-CoV,
Ebola virus (EBOV), chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and Zika virus (ZIKV). Adjuvants represent an
essential component of modern vaccinology, since recombinant protein or virus like particle (VLP)
based vaccines are poorly immunogenic in the absence of adjuvant-mediated innate immune
stimulation. In fact, a growing body of evidence suggests that combinations of adjuvants that stimulate
multiple innate immune pathways are capable of eliciting broadly protective, long-lived immune
responses similar to those stimulated by natural infections. However, to date, only a small number of
adjuvants have been approved for human use, and we have a poor understanding of their mechanisms
of action or the host susceptibility alleles that regulate their performance. This lack of knowledge
impedes our ability to develop new adjuvants, while also limiting our capacity to rationally combine
different adjuvants to develop broadly protective vaccine formulations. Furthermore, since the innate
immune pathways targeted by both FDA approved and experimental adjuvants are highly polymorphic,
it is likely that host genetic variation will significantly impact both the efficacy and safety of individual
adjuvants across diverse populations. Therefore, the development of safe and effective adjuvants and
vaccine formulations requires an understanding of how specific adjuvants/vaccines perform in diverse
populations. Importantly, we can also take advantage of this diversity in responses to identify the
polymorphic genes and genetic networks that regulate the response to specific adjuvants, and then use
that information to rationally select adjuvant combinations designed to safely elicit durably protective
immunity in at risk populations. Therefore, our Program, which takes advantage of our research team’s
expertise in adjuvant development, vaccinology, and complex trait genetics, proposes to use advanced
Systems Vaccinology and Genetics approaches to define the polymorphic genes/gene networks that
regulate the response to specific adjuvants. We will then use this information to identify specific
adjuvants or adjuvant combinations that will elicit protective immunity in populations who are at
increased risk of vaccine failure. This program will results in several high impact deliverables, including:
1) broadly efficacious pre-IND vaccines for several high consequence emerging pathogens, including
EBOV, influenza, MERS-CoV, and ZIKV, 2) novel adjuvant formulations that are designed to safely
elicit durable protective immunity in genetically diverse populations, including individuals who are at risk
of vaccine failure 3) improved animal models...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10377577
- **Project number:** 5U01AI149644-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** Ralph S Baric
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $1,000,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-04-19 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10377577

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10377577, Respiratory Virus Vaccine and Adjuvant Exploration (5U01AI149644-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10377577. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*