PI Bruce Klein, MD, professor and chief, and co-PI Marcel Wuethrich, PhD, distinguished scientist, both from the Division of Infectious Diseases, received a new R01 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The five-year project, “Mechanisms of Vaccine Immunity against Coccidioidomycosis,” was awarded in the amount of $2,865,253 and began in February 2023. Also called “valley fever,” coccidioidomycosis is caused by a fungus that grows in the soil in areas of California and the southwestern United States.
Humans and animals who breathe in dust containing the fungus are susceptible to lung infection. The study aims to define mechanisms of mucosal cellular immunity against coccidioidomycosis after delivery of a live attenuated vaccine intranasal. This project will be completed in collaboration with co-investigators Jatin Vyas, MD, PhD, and Jayaraji Rajagopal, MD, professors of medicine from the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.