# Systems Immunology profiling of respiratory viral infections in vulnerable populations

> **NIH NIH U19** · BENAROYA RESEARCH INST AT VIRGINIA MASON · 2022 · $326,265

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT – PROJECT 2
Acute respiratory viral infections (ARVI) are the most frequently occurring global illness producing significant
morbidity and mortality, particularly in vulnerable populations. Adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have an
increased risk for infection and respiratory mucosal inflammation may contribute to autoimmune disease
severity. The goal of this research project is to understand the molecular and cellular immune signatures of the
RA response to ARVI to determine how this affects infection severity and autoimmune disease progression.
The project includes a detailed systems immunology assessment of acute and long-term airway and adaptive
systemic immune responses to naturally occurring ARVI. Project 2 will examine these responses in patients
with early RA and established RA on immunosuppression and compare these responses to matched healthy
controls. This project is synergistic with the overall program by utilizing similar sample types, timing of sample
collection, and common clinical endpoints but differs by studying a distinct host. The individual projects benefit
from the overall program's shared multi-omics approaches through a Genomics Core for the samples
processing and generation of airway host transcriptome, proteome, epithelial methylation, and viral quantity
and expression data, along with host genetics. There is also a shared Adaptive Phenotyping Core for the
generation of high dimensional cytometry data to broadly characterize immune cell phenotypes and for detailed
identification of antigen-specific cells. The first aim is to determine differences in respiratory innate immune
profiles in pre/early RA, established RA, and healthy controls in response to ARVI using a multi-omics
approach. The second aim will determine if there are differences in adaptive cellular responses including a
detailed characterization of viral-specific and autoantigen specific populations. The third aim will utilize
TotalSeq (scRNA-seq, TCR/BCR sequencing and surface protein quantification), to determine the relationship
between mucosal and systemic responses. This study will determine both how mucosal inflammation
contributes to autoimmune pathogenesis and the host response to ARVI. It will produce novel mechanistic
insights into the diversity and commonality of adult and RA immune response to acute respiratory viruses and
use cutting-edge methods to provide mechanistic insights.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10420949
- **Project number:** 1U19AI167891-01
- **Recipient organization:** BENAROYA RESEARCH INST AT VIRGINIA MASON
- **Principal Investigator:** Carmen R Mikacenic
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $326,265
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-03-29 → 2027-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10420949

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10420949, Systems Immunology profiling of respiratory viral infections in vulnerable populations (1U19AI167891-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10420949. Licensed CC0.

---

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