Hospital-acquired pneumonia and long-term thinking problems
Official title: Nosocomial pneumonias impair cognitive function
Funded at University of South Alabama · NIH-11180176 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at whether bacterial pneumonia picked up in the hospital leads to toxic protein fragments that can harm thinking and memory in ICU survivors.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of South Alabama NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Mobile, United States) |
| Project start | April 1, 2018 |
| Project end | August 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $461,490 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HL140182-08 |
| Project ID | NIH-11180176 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are ICU patients or recent ICU survivors who had bacterial (nosocomial) pneumonia and are willing to provide blood, bronchoalveolar lavage or CSF samples and participate in follow-up cognitive testing.
✕Less likely to help
People without a history of hospital-acquired or bacterial pneumonia, or those unwilling to provide samples or attend follow-up, are unlikely to be eligible or benefit directly from this project.
What this research studies
You might be asked to give lung fluid, blood, or spinal fluid while in the ICU or after discharge so researchers can measure harmful amyloid and tau protein fragments. The team tests patient fluids on rodent brain tissue and injects purified protein oligomers into animals to see if they cause synapse loss and learning problems. Researchers also follow ICU survivors over time with cognitive tests to connect the lab findings to real-world memory and thinking changes. Together these steps aim to explain how hospital bacterial pneumonia could lead to lasting cognitive impairment.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If confirmed, this work could lead to ways to prevent or treat memory and thinking problems that occur after hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia.
How similar studies have gone: Prior laboratory and animal work supports the idea that infection-linked toxic amyloids can damage brain cells, but clinical prevention or treatment strategies for post-ICU cognitive decline remain largely unproven.
Where this research is happening
-
University of South Alabama
Mobile, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Lin, Mike — University of South Alabama
- Study coordinator: Lin, Mike
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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.