IDEAL: How babies’ immune systems shape vaccines, infections and asthma
Official title: Immune development in early life (IDEAL) shapes vaccine response, respiratory infectious disease and asthma
Funded at Boston Children's Hospital · NIH-11496671 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A large NIH project will build a cloud-based system to map how early-life immune development relates to vaccine responses, respiratory infections, and asthma in children.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Boston Children's Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project start | March 1, 2026 |
| Project end | February 28, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $230,458 |
| NIH project number | 5U19AI168643-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11496671 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Infants and young children, including diverse populations, whose health data and samples may be included in the IDEAL cohorts.
✕Less likely to help
Children not enrolled in the IDEAL cohorts or without data/samples available for analysis.
What this research studies
This project uses systems biology and a secure digital platform to collect and analyze clinical data and lab results from infants over time. It will provide researchers with integrated tools to study how early immune trajectories relate to key health outcomes like vaccine effectiveness, infections, and asthma. Parents and clinicians could benefit from future insights that improve prevention and treatment for common childhood respiratory illnesses.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could lead to better vaccines and earlier identification of children at risk for asthma or severe infections.
How similar studies have gone: Previous systems biology efforts have shown that immune trajectories can relate to disease risk, though this integrated cloud approach is novel in its scope.
Where this research is happening
-
Boston Children's Hospital
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Levy, Ofer — Boston Children's Hospital
- Study coordinator: Levy, Ofer
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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IDEAL project helps predict vaccine response, infections, and asthma in early childhood
A Child-focused program will collect and share saliva, blood, and tissue samples from diverse infants to find biological patterns that predict how vaccines work, how respiratory infections occur, and who develops asthma.
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Understanding how early-life immune development affects vaccine responses and asthma risk in children
This project uses lab-grown human immune cells from infants and young children to explore why some kids respond poorly to vaccines and are more prone to respiratory infections and asthma.
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Multi-omic endotypes of vaccine response, respiratory infections, and asthma in children
A parent-friendly look at how early-life immune development shapes how kids respond to vaccines and stay free from lung infections and asthma, using advanced biological profiling.
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IDEAL: How early-life immune development shapes vaccine responses and asthma risk
A child-focused project that looks at how the developing immune system in early life affects vaccine responses, respiratory infections, and asthma.
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IDEAL: How the microbiome shapes vaccine response, infections, and asthma in kids
This project uses data from thousands of children to understand how the microbiome affects vaccines, respiratory infections, and asthma.
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IDEAL: How immune systems develop in early life shape vaccines, infections, and asthma
A patient-friendly overview of a program at Boston Children’s Hospital exploring how early immune development affects vaccine responses, respiratory infections, and asthma in children.
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.