Tulane University COVID Antibody and Immunity Network (TUCAIN)

Overall Summary: The SARS-CoV-2 virus, the causative agent of COVID-19, has infected a reported 13,810,247 persons globallyas of July 16, 2020 with a mortality rate of 4.2%. In the State of Louisiana, over 7.3% of the 86,411 COVID-19cases involve people living with cancer. Theoretically, convalescent plasma contains protective antibodies thatneutralizes virus and mitigates its pathogenic effects. Yet, there remains a large gap in our understanding of themechanisms that drive humoral and cellular immune responses and how these responses correlate with diseasecourse and protection as well as the durability of those responses. Furthermore, there is a need for serologicalassays that measure these responses accurately for serodiagnosis and as correlates of immunity and protection.Without this knowledge, the true efficacy of convalescent plasma as therapy for COVID-19 and ourunderstanding of the humoral immune response to SARS-CoV-2, especially in immunocompromised patients,will remain unknown.The overall goal of the Tulane University Convalescent Antibody and Immunity Network (TUCAIN) is tocharacterize this response with respect to functionality and durability. We will achieve this goal by investigatingthe following broad specific aims: (1) Characterize the evolution, function and longevity of the humoral immuneresponse to COVID-19. (2) Identify cell mediated immune responses that contribute to durable or short-livedhumoral immunity to SARS CoV-2. (3) Correlate protective and potentially pathogenic immune responses to theclinical course of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. We will achieve these goals by studying a diverse cohort ofCOVID-19 survivors and minimally sick seroconverters, including a large cohort of patients with malignancies.Using serial blood collections, we will apply several immunological technologies to study the evolution anddurability of the immune response over time. We will also correlate these responses to patient outcomes anddisease pathogenesis using a "big data", systems biology approach. An approach, such as the one we propose,will allow us to determine if COVID-19 survivors develop long-term, antibody-based protection and we canconfirm if convalescent plasma has therapeutic potential. This research will allow us to identify new targets formedicines and vaccines, inform personalized treatment strategies such as those required byimmunocompromised patients with cancer, and to provide novel immunological algorithms applicable to a widerange of human pathogens.