# Understanding protection against norovirus at the maternal-child interface

> **NIH NIH K24** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2024 · $198,894

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
This K24 renewal builds upon the successful clinical research and mentorship performed by the candidate,
Sylvia Becker-Dreps, MD, MPH. As a natural extension of Dr. Becker-Dreps’ previous work on human norovirus
(NoV), this proposal expands her research skillset to investigate maternal protection against NoV in early
childhood. Understanding how the maternal-child interface acts to protect against NoV can guide interventions
to reduce childhood NoV disease burden. In addition, she plans to purposefully integrate trainees into her
research. Candidate: Dr. Becker-Dreps is a physician-scientist dually appointed in Family Medicine and
Epidemiology. Her research focuses on the epidemiology and prevention of viral gastroenteritis in children. She
employs a multidisciplinary approach combining robust field epidemiology with state-of-the-art laboratory
methods. Her group contributed to understanding poor rotavirus vaccine performance in low-resource settings
and characterized the natural history, clinical characteristics, and risk factors for sapovirus gastroenteritis. During
the first K24 award period, she shifted her focus to NoV, and answered fundamental questions about the
development of NoV immunity to inform vaccine development. The proposed career development activities will
expand Dr. Becker-Dreps’ skillsets to allow her to characterize components of maternal protection against NoV
in early life. Research Plan: The proposed research builds on recent epidemiological findings showing that
maternal glycobiology is associated with protection against NoV. Specifically, her group found that children of
mothers who are “secretors” of fut-2-dependent fucosylated oligosaccharides have a lower risk of NoV. Using
existing data and biobanked samples from a Nicaraguan birth cohort including 419 breastfeeding mother-child
dyads, she plans to elucidate differences in breastmilk oligosaccharide composition and NoV-specific antibodies
in breastmilk and serum by maternal secretor status, and to understand their independent contributions to the
risk of NoV in early life. She will also determine whether differences in infant gut microbiome composition are
associated with the risk of NoV gastroenteritis. Mentoring Plan. Dr. Becker-Dreps has an established track
record of successfully mentoring trainees in patient-oriented research, and for attracting trainees from groups
underrepresented in science. Trainees will be offered access to existing data and samples from two large
maternal-child cohort studies and will be encouraged to identify independent research projects that they can take
ownership of. To complement her one-on-one project-based mentorship, she will leverage UNC’s extensive
resources, including from UNC’s CTSA, NIH-funded training programs, and through a new leadership role at the
UNC Office of Global Health Education. Without K24 funding, her available time for mentorship is limited. She
plans to use protected time afforded by the K24 renewal t...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10887204
- **Project number:** 2K24AI141744-06
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** Sylvia Irene Becker-Dreps
- **Activity code:** K24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $198,894
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2018-12-06 → 2029-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10887204

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10887204, Understanding protection against norovirus at the maternal-child interface (2K24AI141744-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10887204. Licensed CC0.

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