How COVID infection or vaccination during pregnancy shapes newborn immunity
Official title: Investigating the role of maternal-fetal crosstalk on neonatal immunity in COVID-19 infection or vaccination in pregnancy
Funded at University of California, San Francisco · NIH-11257648 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at how getting COVID or a COVID vaccine while pregnant changes a mother's antibodies and a newborn's immune cells.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California, San Francisco NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (San Francisco, United States) |
| Project start | April 1, 2023 |
| Project end | January 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $693,316 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HD111582-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11257648 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Pregnant people who had SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy or who received a COVID vaccine in pregnancy and who are willing to provide blood, placenta, and cord blood samples are ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People who are not pregnant, who never had COVID nor received a COVID vaccine during pregnancy, or those unwilling to provide samples are unlikely to directly benefit from participating.
What this research studies
If you were pregnant and had COVID or got a COVID vaccine, researchers will use your blood, placenta samples, and your baby's cord blood to measure antibodies and immune cell activity. They will look for immune complexes and whether maternal antibodies or other signals cross the placenta and activate the baby's T cells or other immune cells. The team will compare samples from two groups followed through pregnancy to see differences between infection and vaccination and will study placental tissue to understand how maternal-fetal crosstalk happens. Findings aim to clarify which maternal responses protect newborns and which might alter infant immune development.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help doctors choose better vaccination timing or strategies in pregnancy to protect newborns and limit harmful immune effects.
How similar studies have gone: Previous studies show maternal antibodies transfer to newborns and that infection can change infant immune markers, but antigen-specific fetal priming via immune complexes and detailed placental mechanisms remain relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Gaw, Stephanie Lina — University of California, San Francisco
- Study coordinator: Gaw, Stephanie Lina
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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.