# Model Systems Core (MODS Core)

> **NIH NIH P01** · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · 2024 · $1,840,878

## Abstract

ABSTRACT – MODEL SYSTEMS (MODS) CORE
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) poses a significant threat to children's health as a major cause of birth defects and
brain damage, yet an effective vaccine to prevent congenital CMV (cCMV) transmission remains elusive. Novel
strategies to protect against cCMV transmission and disease require tractable preclinical models to de-risk
clinical vaccine development. The Model Systems Core (MODS Core), led by Dr. Sallie Permar (contact PI)
along with collaborators across 3 national primate centers with enhanced special pathogen-free (SPF) rhesus
monkey breeding colonies, has established a highly relevant nonhuman primate (NHP) model in rhesus
monkeys (RM) that closely resembles human cCMV transmission and disease after acute rhesus CMV
(RhCMV) infection during pregnancy. However, conducting studies in RhCMV-free monkeys remains
challenging due to its endemicity in primate colonies. To address this, the MODS Core Specific Aims include;
1) Central coordination to ensure unbiased distribution and protocol adherence of studies in RhCMV-
seronegative dams and males among Projects, 2) Decoding of CMV-host interactions and viral placental cell
tropism in placental organoid and placentas from RM and humans after vaccination using high-resolution
transcriptomics and proteomics technologies, the MODS Core aims to identify cell-type specific gene
expression patterns, comparing CMV spread and pathogenesis between RMs and humans in highly relevant in
vitro organoid models and in vivo samples obtained from RMs and humans directly; 3) Advanced single-cell
and spatial multi-omic technologies to investigate CMV viral pathogenesis and mechanisms of vaccine efficacy
at the maternal-fetal interface, identifying candidate therapeutic and immunologic targets for developing better
vaccination and treatments to reduce and ameliorate vertical viral transmission. The MODS Core plays a
crucial role in coordinating NHP experiments, facilitating sample exchange, conducting single-cell level
placental analysis using organoid and placenta models, and providing primary and secondary endpoints for
data analysis. Ultimately, the MODS Core's comprehensive approach contributes to the development of
effective interventions to eliminate cCMV and serves as the backbone of the overall Program, de-risking novel
CMV vaccine candidates and discovering novel vaccine targets in a highly-relevant pre-clinical model.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10874235
- **Project number:** 2P01AI129859-07
- **Recipient organization:** WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV
- **Principal Investigator:** Sallie R. Permar
- **Activity code:** P01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,840,878
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2019-07-24 → 2029-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10874235

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10874235, Model Systems Core (MODS Core) (2P01AI129859-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10874235. Licensed CC0.

---

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