Antibody protection against tummy viruses in Bangladeshi mothers and babies
Official title: Humoral Immunity to Enteric Viruses among Infants and Mothers in Bangladesh
Funded at Immport Therapeutics, INC. · NIH-11141785 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Researchers will look for antibodies in mothers, breast milk, and infants in Bangladesh that protect babies from viral diarrhea.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R21 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Immport Therapeutics, INC. NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Irvine, United States) |
| Project start | July 19, 2024 |
| Project end | May 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $80,850 |
| NIH project number | 5R21AI185887-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11141785 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are mothers and their infants in Bangladesh, particularly infants around 18 weeks and one year old who can provide blood samples and whose mothers can provide breast milk.
✕Less likely to help
Older children, adults, or people not exposed to the targeted enteric viruses would be unlikely to see direct benefit from participation.
What this research studies
If I or my baby join, the team will collect breast milk and blood samples from mothers and their infants at about 18 weeks and one year of age and test them for antibodies to common gut viruses. They will build a protein microarray containing many parts of adenovirus, astrovirus, norovirus, rotavirus and sapovirus to see which antibody responses are linked to protection. By comparing antibody profiles in mothers and infants with who gets diarrhea, they hope to identify viral proteins that could be used in vaccines. The work focuses on real immune markers that could inform maternal and pediatric vaccine development for low-resource settings.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could point to vaccine targets that better protect infants from viral diarrhea, especially in low-resource settings.
How similar studies have gone: Antibody-correlate approaches have helped guide other vaccine developments, but applying a comprehensive enteric virus protein array to maternal and infant samples is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
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Immport Therapeutics, INC.
Irvine, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Camerini, David — Immport Therapeutics, INC.
- Study coordinator: Camerini, David
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.