# Tulane University COVID Antibody and Immunity Network (TUCAIN) Supplement

> **NIH NIH U54** · TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA · 2024 · $310,000

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
The SARS-CoV-2 virus, the causative agent of COVID-19, has infected a reported
13,810,247 persons globally as of July 16, 2020 with a mortality rate of 4.2%. In the
State of Louisiana, over 7.3% of the 86,411 COVID-19 cases involve people living with
cancer. Treatment with convalescent serum or plasma is currently widely used in the
setting of experimental trials and ad hoc. Theoretically, convalescent plasma contains
protective antibodies that neutralizes virus and mitigates its pathogenic effects. Yet,
there remains a large gap in our understanding of the mechanisms that drive humoral
and cellular immune responses and how these responses correlate with disease course
and protection as well as the durability of those responses. Furthermore, there is a need
for serological assays that measure these responses accurately for serodiagnosis and
as correlates of immunity and protection. Without this knowledge, the true efficacy of
convalescent plasma as therapy for COVID-19 and our understanding of the humoral
immune response to SARS-CoV-2, especially in immunocompromised patients, will
remain unknown.
A central hypothesis of our proposal is that the humoral immune responses to SARS-
CoV-2 is protective in the short-term but appears to lack durability. However, a second
hypothesis is that some remnant of immunity will be retained which will prevent
recurrence of COVID19 but not necessarily re-infection. The overall mission of the
Tulane University Convalescent Antibody and Immunity Network (TUCAIN) is to
characterize this response with respect to functionality and durability.
We will achieve these goals by studying a diverse cohort of COVID-19 survivors and
minimally sick seroconverters. Using serial blood collections, we will apply several
immunological technologies to study the evolution and durability of the immune
response over time. We will also correlate these responses to patient outcomes and
disease pathogenesis using a “big data”, systems biology approach. An approach, such
as the one we propose, will allow us to determine if COVID-19 survivors develop long-
term, antibody-based protection and we can confirm if convalescent plasma has
therapeutic potential. This research will allow us to identify new targets for medicines
and vaccines, inform personalized treatment strategies such as those required by
immunocompromised patients with cance or HIV infection, and to provide novel
immunological algorithms applicable to a wide range of human pathogens.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11160100
- **Project number:** 3U54CA260581-02S3
- **Recipient organization:** TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
- **Principal Investigator:** JAMES E Robinson
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $310,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2024-09-01 → 2025-03-24

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11160100

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11160100, Tulane University COVID Antibody and Immunity Network (TUCAIN) Supplement (3U54CA260581-02S3). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11160100. Licensed CC0.

---

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