# Defining functional humoral correlates of immunity to guide vaccine design

> **NIH NIH R01** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2024 · $788,464

## Abstract

Malaria, a mosquito-borne disease caused by Plasmodium spp., was responsible for nearly half a million deaths
in 2017, with an additional 3.2 billion people at risk of disease. While aggressive insecticide-treated bed-net
distribution, mosquito control, and anti-malarial drug distribution programs have significantly reduced mortality
associated with the disease, the disease continues to spread nearly unabated, suggesting that a vaccine against
this infection is desperately needed. Despite the slow pace of malaria vaccine design, several vaccines have
shown promise in the field demonstrating 30–50% protection in field efficacy or Phase 2 trials. Correlates
analyses have suggested that both humoral immune responses and cellular immunity may both play critical parts
in protection from infection; however, the precise mechanism by which these immune responses synergize to
drive immunity may provide the critical insights to advance the design of next-generation vaccines able to provide
higher levels of global protection. Moreover, field studies have highlighted the potentially deleterious influence
of pre-existing antibodies in endemic regions on vaccine response. Thus, under this proposal we seek to exploit
our Systems Serology antibody profiling approach, across a large array of sporozoite/early liver antigens, to
define both the correlates of immunity against malaria infection following PfSPZ immunization as well as to define
the specific mechanism(s) by which pre-existing antibodies shape the response to vaccination. Ultimately, the
results from this study will provide novel insights for the development of next generation vaccines against malaria.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10731057
- **Project number:** 5R01AI151178-04
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Facundo Damian Batista
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $788,464
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-11-24 → 2025-10-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10731057

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10731057, Defining functional humoral correlates of immunity to guide vaccine design (5R01AI151178-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10731057. Licensed CC0.

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