Better blood-sample methods to study immune responses in sepsis
Optimizing methods of clinical sample processing for scRNA-seq and mechanistic studies in sepsis to enable reliable, reproducible, and high-yield multi-center collection efforts
This project tests improved ways to collect and process blood from people with sepsis so scientists can read the activity of individual immune cells.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Massachusetts General Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11241135 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you or a loved one are hospitalized with sepsis, this work aims to make blood sample collection and handling easier and more reliable so labs can run single-cell RNA sequencing. Researchers will compare different processing steps and shipping methods across hospitals to keep cells intact and get high-quality data. The team wants to standardize methods so results are reproducible across centers and large studies can combine samples. More reliable sample handling should help scientists find immune cell patterns that explain why some patients get sicker and which treatments might work best.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are adults hospitalized with suspected or confirmed sepsis at participating hospitals who can provide small blood samples during their hospital stay.
Not a fit: People without sepsis, patients not treated at a participating center, or those too unstable to provide blood samples are unlikely to be directly involved or benefit from this project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could let researchers more reliably identify immune cell patterns in sepsis and speed development of more targeted treatments.
How similar studies have performed: Single-cell RNA sequencing has already revealed sepsis-related immune cell changes in prior work, but standardized multicenter sample processing for this approach remains novel.
Where this research is happening
Boston, United States
- Massachusetts General Hospital — Boston, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Filbin, Michael — Massachusetts General Hospital
- Study coordinator: Filbin, Michael
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 below.