# Immuno-Serological Assays for Monitoring COVID19 in Patients with Hematologic Malignancies

> **NIH NIH U01** · YALE UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $107,220

## Abstract

Summary
The main goals of the Supplement Award are to (1) correlate immunoserological responses to early immune
reactions in local tissue environment of the vaccine injection site in healthy donors, and (2) the compare between
healthy controls and patients with hematological disorders or autoimmune disease. We will use a high plex
immuno-fluorescence CODEX imaging panel to profile these skin biopsy samples in the next year of the award.
Using this panel, we can confirm the expression of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike antigen. Interestingly, the SARS-CoV-
2 Spike antigen was detected in the epidermis and dermis of both arms from two donors. Specifically, SARS-
CoV-2 Spike co-expressed with CD303 and CD63 of the unvaccinated arm tissue of a healthy donor and in
cluster 0 of the vaccinated arm of a BCD donor, indicating expression in dendritic cells and basophils. In the next
year to be supported by the Supplement Award, we will be imaging at least 13 more skin tissue sections and
plan to conduct deeper informatics analysis. Additionally, we are performing DBiT-based spatial CITE-seq on
adjacent slides from these 13 skin tissue sections and integrating the data with previously obtained sc-mRNA-
seq data. Furthermore, we have completed immunoserology assays with the serum samples of these donors
and patients. Therefore, once we complete the peripheral tissue spatial imaging and spatial omics sequencing,
the results will be compared to systemic immunological and serological responses over times to help understand
the role of early immune reaction in the development of an effective vaccine protection, in particular, in patients
with blood cancer or autoimmune disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11160167
- **Project number:** 3U01CA260507-02S3
- **Recipient organization:** YALE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Rong Fan
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $107,220
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-09-30 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11160167

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11160167, Immuno-Serological Assays for Monitoring COVID19 in Patients with Hematologic Malignancies (3U01CA260507-02S3). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11160167. Licensed CC0.

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