How teen binge drinking might change brain-driven fever and immune responses
Official title: CNS-mediated fever after Adolescent Intermittent Ethanol
Funded at State University of Ny,binghamton · NIH-11334327 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This work looks at whether heavy alcohol use during the teen years changes how the brain controls fever and immune responses to infections and vaccinations.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | State University of Ny,binghamton NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Binghamton, United States) |
| Project start | April 1, 2023 |
| Project end | March 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $426,682 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AA030469-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11334327 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
This work is most relevant to adolescents or young adults who had episodes of binge drinking during their teenage years.
✕Less likely to help
People who never drank heavily as teens or whose alcohol exposure began only in adulthood are less likely to directly benefit from these findings.
What this research studies
From the patient perspective, researchers recreate binge-like alcohol exposure that happens in adolescence and then measure long-term changes in brain and immune signaling that control fever and host defense. They use animal models to track sex-specific changes in cytokines, brain immune cells, and fever responses after viral-like challenges or vaccine-like stimuli. The team links these biological findings to concerns raised by COVID-19 about who is more vulnerable to worse infection outcomes or altered vaccine responses. Findings aim to explain whether a teen history of heavy drinking could change how a person responds to infections later in life.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If true, this could help doctors understand whether adolescent binge drinking raises infection or vaccine risk and guide prevention, vaccination, or monitoring strategies.
How similar studies have gone: Previous human and animal research shows alcohol can weaken immune responses and increase infection risk, but linking teen binge patterns to long-term, brain-mediated fever and immune changes is a newer focus.
Where this research is happening
-
State University of Ny,binghamton
Binghamton, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Deak, Terrence — State University of Ny,binghamton
- Study coordinator: Deak, Terrence
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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.