Maps of immune cell gene activity in people from diverse backgrounds
Official title: Research Resources: Epigenomic and Transcriptomic Profile of Human Immune Cells
Funded at La Jolla Institute for Immunology · NIH-11198752 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Collecting gene and epigenetic data from immune cells of people from diverse ancestries to better explain why autoimmune disease risk differs between groups.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | La Jolla Institute for Immunology NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (La Jolla, United States) |
| Project start | August 1, 2014 |
| Project end | August 31, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $1,301,799 |
| NIH project number | 2R24AI108564-10 |
| Project ID | NIH-11198752 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People from under-represented ancestries (for example, African, Asian, or Hispanic/Latino) and individuals with or without autoimmune conditions who can donate blood for immune-cell studies are ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People with conditions unrelated to immune biology, those unable to give blood, or those seeking an immediate clinical therapy are unlikely to gain direct medical benefit from participating.
What this research studies
You would be asked to give a blood sample so researchers can isolate different types of immune cells and read their gene activity and epigenetic marks. The team will link those cell-specific patterns to genetic risk variants discovered in large studies and compare results across people of European, African, Asian, and Hispanic/Latino ancestries. Data will be added to the DICE resource so many researchers can use it to study autoimmune diseases. The work focuses on which immune cell types show changes tied to disease-risk variants and aims to improve understanding for people from under-represented groups.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: This could help researchers identify the immune cells and gene changes that drive autoimmune diseases, which may lead to better diagnostics or new treatments for diverse patient populations.
How similar studies have gone: Previous immune-cell eQTL and epigenomic projects have successfully linked genetic risk variants to gene regulation, and this project builds on that by increasing ancestry diversity and cell-type resolution.
Where this research is happening
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La Jolla Institute for Immunology
La Jolla, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Vijayanand, Pandurangan — La Jolla Institute for Immunology
- Study coordinator: Vijayanand, Pandurangan
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.