Systems Biology Approach to SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Individuals with known COVID-19 Contacts: A Prospective Cohort Study

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT With this K38 Mentored Stimulating Access to Research in Residency Transition Scholar (StARRTS) award, I will develop the necessary skills to become an independently funded clinician-scientist, working at the intersection of immunology, systems biology, and vaccinology. My longstanding commitment to translational and clinical research provides me with the foundation for this work. During this Award, I will be mentored by Dr. Nadine Rouphael, an expert in translational immunology, who is interim director of the Hope Clinic, the clinical arm of the Emory Vaccine Center, Dr. Bali Pulendran, an expert in systems biology at Stanford University, Dr. Erin Scherer, an expert in B-cell biology and director of the Hope Clinic Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit (VTEU) Research Laboratory, and Dr. Christina Mehta, an expert in applied biostatistics in the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University. I will have hands on clinical research and biostatistical training as well as training in laboratory methods related to systems biology, and will attend workshops in the field. Currently, I am enrolling subjects for my R38 research year and using the combined diagnostic methods of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgM/IgG testing and symptom-driven SARS-CoV-2 PCR testing to better identify individuals with asymptomatic and mild COVID-19. We hypothesize that a systems biology approach will identify specific baseline immunologic signatures, which predict COVID-19 disease acquisition and severity and that mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 will be characterized by a specific innate and adaptive immune responses. We propose a cohort study to complete the following aims: 1) To identify baseline immunologic markers predictive of COVID-19 disease acquisition and severity, and 2) To characterize the innate and adaptive immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 in individuals with asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic COVID-19. Completion of these aims will provide a better understanding of COVID-19 and position me to transition to independence as a clinician-scientist.