Understanding how environment and microbiome affect health in children with sickle cell disease
Official title: SMILE (Sickle Cell Disease Microbiologic and Immunologic Links to Health)
Funded at Research Inst Nationwide Children's Hosp · NIH-11515703 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A research project will explore how environmental exposures shape immune responses and airway microbiomes in children with sickle cell disease and how these factors relate to health outcomes.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Research Inst Nationwide Children's Hosp NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Columbus, United States) |
| Project start | September 19, 2025 |
| Project end | June 30, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $733,686 |
| NIH project number | 7R01HL178923-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11515703 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Children aged 0-11 years with sickle cell disease
✕Less likely to help
Children without sickle cell disease or outside the 0-11 age range.
What this research studies
This study looks at how a child’s environment influences their immune system and airway microbes in sickle cell disease, especially during hospitalizations. Using advanced multi-omics methods, researchers will profile blood transcription, airway microbiota, and proteins over time. The goal is to connect environmental and social factors to disease outcomes, aiming to identify pathways that could reduce severe complications for cwSCD.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the findings could lead to strategies that lessen hospitalizations and improve health for children with sickle cell disease by addressing environmental influences and immune-microbiome interactions.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work suggests immune and microbiome differences in cwSCD; this study builds on those findings with longitudinal, multi-omics profiling.
Where this research is happening
-
Research Inst Nationwide Children's Hosp
Columbus, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Kopp, Benjamin T — Research Inst Nationwide Children's Hosp
- Study coordinator: Kopp, Benjamin T
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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.