Molecular rules of capillary leak in seriously ill kids
Official title: Molecular regulation of the capillary barrier in acute critical illness
Funded at Yale University · NIH-11393099 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A study looking at why blood vessels become leaky in severely ill children and how that leads to organ failure.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Yale University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New Haven, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2023 |
| Project end | August 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $577,249 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HL170164-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11393099 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Children with acute critical illness who are experiencing or at risk of capillary leak and organ dysfunction.
✕Less likely to help
Healthy children or those without evidence of capillary leak or organ dysfunction are unlikely to benefit.
What this research studies
This project explores how capillary barriers in children with acute critical illness break down at the cellular level, using endothelial cells to model leak and identify common signaling pathways. Researchers will examine how cytokines and other signals affect tight junctions and permselectivity in microvascular endothelium, aiming to find shared pathways that cause leaks between or through endothelial cells. The work builds on prior findings that many cytokines are elevated but that targeting individual ones hasn’t reliably helped patients. By focusing on final common signaling routes, the study hopes to reveal new targets for preventing organ dysfunction. The goal is to connect cellular changes to the clinical picture of organ failure in kids with acute illness.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could lead to new strategies to prevent or reduce organ failure in critically ill children by targeting shared endothelial pathways.
How similar studies have gone: Prior work shows endothelial leak and cytokine involvement; this study seeks to identify shared pathways, which could advance field but remains exploratory.
Where this research is happening
-
Yale University
New Haven, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Pierce, Richard W — Yale University
- Study coordinator: Pierce, Richard W
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Glucocorticoids and critical illness outcomes in ICU patients
A researcher team at Columbia University will study how glucocorticoids affect short- and long-term outcomes for people who survive critical illness, including mental health and recovery aspects.
-
REPAIR-ICU: Understanding aging-like changes after critical illness to help ICU survivors
This grant studies how surviving an ICU stay triggers aging-related changes in the body and tests interventions to help people recover.
-
Understanding how individual responses to treatments vary in ARDS and sepsis
This grant aims to help clinicians predict which patients with ARDS or sepsis will benefit most from specific treatments by using advanced computer approaches.
-
Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells in Immunological Endotyping and Intervention for Chronic Critical Illness after Sepsis
Aimed at people who have survived sepsis after surgery, this grant seeks to understand why some patients develop long-term organ problems and how to tailor treatments to their immune responses.
-
Heme-Driven Immune Dysregulation in Critical Illness
Researchers are studying how free heme from red blood cell breakdown affects the immune system in people with sepsis or chronic blood disorders, with the aim of guiding better treatments.
-
Remotely Monitored HIIT After COVID-19 ICU Stay
A home-based, high-intensity interval training program guided by wearable tech to help adults recover physical function after severe COVID-19 illness.
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.