# Uncovering associations of variant infection with COVID-19 disease severity in children

> **NIH NIH R61** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2022 · $1,541,111

## Abstract

Project Abstract
 Under parent grant R61HD105618 (PI Chiu, University of California, San Francisco), we proposed to
define panels of diagnostic and predictive host markers of COVID-19 in children, with a focus on severe clinical
manifestations of disease, including COVID-19 associated pneumonia, myocarditis, and multisystem
inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). Our aims were to collect and biobank clinical samples from
pediatric patients with COVID-19 and MIS-C, perform RNA transcriptome profiling and cell-free DNA analyses
to identify host biomarkers, and generate predictive models of clinical severity and outcomes. Here we propose
a supplemental project in response to the threat posed by newly emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, such as
Delta. We will perform SARS-CoV-2 viral whole-genome sequencing of >4,000 samples across 5 pediatric
hospital systems and correlate variant identification with clinical and laboratory metadata. We aim to determine
whether infection from specific variants is associated with more severe illness or complications of COVID-19
disease such as MIS-C. Uncovering potential differences in clinical severity due to infection from specific
variants is critical to understanding surges in pediatric hospitalizations associated with SARS-CoV-2 and to
informing development of host biomarkers for diagnosing and monitoring disease complications such as
COVID-19 pneumonia, myocarditis, and MIS-C.
.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10516696
- **Project number:** 3R61HD105618-02S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** Charles Yen Chiu
- **Activity code:** R61 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $1,541,111
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2021-01-01 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10516696

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10516696, Uncovering associations of variant infection with COVID-19 disease severity in children (3R61HD105618-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10516696. Licensed CC0.

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