# Immune Tolerance Network

> **NIH NIH UM1** · BENAROYA RESEARCH INST AT VIRGINIA MASON · 2021 · $19,793,297

## Abstract

Project summary / ABSTRACT
The mission of the ITN is to advance the clinical application of immune tolerance by performing
high quality clinical trials of emerging therapeutics based upon testable mechanistic hypotheses.
The ITN is structured in order to interrogate different diseases across the immunologic
spectrum, with integration of innovative clinical studies and cutting edge immunology laboratory
analysis. The ITN approach—clinical assessment of novel tolerance therapeutics, while we
simultaneously evaluate the cellular, genetic, and immunologic mechanisms of disease and how
they are altered in response to therapy—creates a framework for advancing cross-disease and
cross-discipline knowledge, all designed to accelerate therapeutic options for major diseases.
In this renewal application, we describe the scientific and operational framework that will enable
the ITN to successfully enhance the development of tolerance therapies in transplantation,
autoimmunity, and allergy. We outline a process to evolve our current strategies into the next
generation of planned trials, as well as how we plan to operate a nimble, future-focused
organization, poised to lead and adopt innovations that are currently unknown. We propose a
collaborative structure involving hundreds of investigators, advisors, and clinical sites working in
tandem with a core group of ITN staff, operating a program that is both scientifically and
financially efficient. Several new innovations recently adopted by the ITN will encourage
widespread involvement from academic investigators, including expanded resource sharing and
data sharing operations. With lead institutional commitment from the Benaroya Research
Institute and the University of California San Francisco, and participation of more than 20 other
major institutions represented in leadership and major advisory roles, the ITN strives to continue
to successfully pioneer high impact clinical trials and mechanistic studies in areas of unmet
medical need.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10397200
- **Project number:** 3UM1AI109565-08S1
- **Recipient organization:** BENAROYA RESEARCH INST AT VIRGINIA MASON
- **Principal Investigator:** GERALD T NEPOM
- **Activity code:** UM1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $19,793,297
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2021-05-13 → 2022-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10397200

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10397200, Immune Tolerance Network (3UM1AI109565-08S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10397200. Licensed CC0.

---

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