# Core A: Administrative Core

> **NIH NIH U19** · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · 2024 · $69,499

## Abstract

Core A: Administrative Core
Project Summary
Our understanding of how human adaptive immune responses are initiated, evolve over time, and become
durable have been shaped largely, although not exclusively, by what we have learned from measuring B and T
cells in the blood following immune perturbations with pathogens, vaccines and immune-modulating drugs. While
longitudinal analyses can be performed with blood samples, it is only possible to assess the recirculating immune
cells and we know that many antigen-experienced “memory” B and T cells rarely recirculate and reside in
peripheral and lymphoid tissues. Recent studies in animals reveal that immune memory cells in tissues play
important early roles in immune protection at barrier sites. The generation and maintenance of these cells are
controlled by different mechanisms and these tissue-residing memory cells are endowed with distinct phenotypic,
molecular, and functional programs. Although it is difficult to study human tissue-residing immune cells, the
elegant studies that have been done confirm that studying immune cells in tissues reveals additional complexity
that is not always captured in peripheral blood. However, to date, most human studies in peripheral tissues have
not evaluated the evolution or durability of antigen specific B and T cell responses in the face of a continuously
changing microenvironment and/or ongoing antigen exposure. This gap in knowledge limits our ability to
identify appropriate modalities to boost and maintain protective immune cells within peripheral tissues and to
prevent the development and persistence of potentially pathogenic immune cells that contribute to tissue
damage. This U19 addresses the knowledge gap by characterizing immune memory cells that reside in tissue
samples derived from transplant patients. The unifying goals of the three U19 projects are to better understand
the evolution of human immune memory responses in tissue and blood and to characterize the factors that
contribute to the persistence and durability of human memory T and B cells. To meet these goals, investigators
with complementary expertise in B and T cell biology, infectious disease, transplantation and autoimmunity will
work together to methodically interrogate the memory B and T cell compartments in transplanted kidney, uterus
and lung. The major objective of Core A is to provide financial, scientific and regulatory oversight and
administrative support for the overall Program as well as the individual projects and cores. We will achieve this
objective by: (i) supporting the scientific progress of the projects and cores, organizing the monthly research in
progress meetings and interfacing with the project and core team members to ensure needs are met; (ii)
organizing scientific interactions such as the annual retreat with the scientific advisory board, and the annual
Cooperative Centers on Human Immunology investigator meeting; (iii) providing financial oversight and
administrative ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10824852
- **Project number:** 1U19AI181105-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM
- **Principal Investigator:** Frances E. Lund
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $69,499
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-04-16 → 2029-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10824852

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10824852, Core A: Administrative Core (1U19AI181105-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10824852. Licensed CC0.

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