REPAIR-ICU: Understanding aging-like changes after critical illness to help ICU survivors
Official title: Recovery, EPigenetics And Inflammaging Research after critical illness (REPAIR-ICU)
Funded at University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh · NIH-11426690 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This grant studies how surviving an ICU stay triggers aging-related changes in the body and tests interventions to help people recover.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Pittsburgh, United States) |
| Project start | August 15, 2026 |
| Project end | March 31, 2031 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $388,768 |
| NIH project number | 1R35GM166313-01 |
| Project ID | NIH-11426690 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults who have survived critical illness and are enrolled in the recovery cohort.
✕Less likely to help
Patients not connected to ICU recovery programs or those outside the study’s biomarker and follow-up framework may not directly benefit.
What this research studies
ICU survivors often suffer long-term frailty and cognitive issues. The project uses human data from ICU patients to map aging-like biomarkers (telomeres, DNA methylation, SASP) and immune changes that predict later health problems. It has built a patient-centered recovery science program with ongoing enrollment, targeted tests, and advanced analysis to find windows where interventions could help. The goal is to identify mechanisms driving poor recovery and test strategies to reverse or slow them in people recovering from critical illness.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could lead to therapies that improve recovery, reduce readmissions, and enhance life after ICU stays.
How similar studies have gone: Prior work shows ICU survivors have accelerated immune aging and persistent inflammation, with biomarker patterns linked to outcomes, supporting further testing of interventions.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Mayr, Florian — University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh
- Study coordinator: Mayr, Florian
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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.