Infectious disease core for xenotransplantation safety
Official title: Core C: Infectious Disease Core
Funded at Massachusetts General Hospital · NIH-11391067 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A central lab at a major hospital will monitor infectious risks in xenotransplantation using advanced sequencing to protect patients receiving animal organs or tissues.
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 start | August 12, 2025 |
| Project end | June 30, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $327,269 |
| NIH project number | 5U19AI191384-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11391067 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Patients receiving xenotransplants or those involved in related preclinical and clinical studies at participating centers.
✕Less likely to help
Healthy volunteers or patients not involved in xenotransplantation may not directly benefit from this core.
What this research studies
This core provides microbiological surveillance for multi-genomic engineered pigs and non-human primate transplant recipients, using quantitative next-generation sequencing on cell-free DNA and RNA to detect known pathogens and uncover unknown organisms. It supports clinical and preclinical xenotransplantation by sharing expertise with veterinary teams and interpreting results for patient care. The approach includes targeted viral enrichment and comprehensive viral capture to improve detection sensitivity, guiding antimicrobial prophylaxis and the level of immunosuppression for recipients. Samples come from xenograft patients under various immunosuppressive regimens, and findings will inform safer management of infections in this context.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this core could reduce infectious complications in xenotransplant patients by enabling earlier, more accurate detection and better-informed prevention strategies.
How similar studies have gone: Previous xenotransplantation programs have shown that advanced pathogen surveillance improves safety, though this core emphasizes novel metagenomic methods.
Where this research is happening
-
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Fishman, Jay a. — Massachusetts General Hospital
- Study coordinator: Fishman, Jay a.
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Latin American Center for Emerging Infectious Disease Surveillance and Readiness
A regional collaboration in Peru and neighboring countries aims to strengthen early warning and monitoring for viruses that could jump from animals to people, helping communities prepare for outbreaks.
-
Center in Latin America to monitor emerging infectious diseases
A U01 grant supporting a collaboration between Peruvian and U.S. researchers to improve early detection and surveillance of regionally relevant viruses that could affect people, animals, and crops in Peru and neighboring areas.
-
Acanthamoeba as a modern model parasite to study infectious disease biology and mitochondria
A five-year project will define the mitochondrial proteins and pathways of Acanthamoeba castellanii to advance infectious disease biology and parasite metabolism.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
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.