A second supplement to the ongoing U19 grant from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases (NIH/NIAID) was recently awarded to Principal Investigator James Gern, MD and an inter-departmental team including co-investigators Christine Seroogy, MD, Ann Palmenberg, PhD, Irene Ong, PhD (OB/GYN), Kristen Bernard, DVM, PhD (Veterinary Medicine), and Sean McIlwain, PhD (Biostatistics and Medical Informatics). In this COVID-19-related supplement entitled, “Identifying coronavirus B-cell epitopes associated with COVID-19 illness severity,” researchers will test the hypothesis that the pattern and quantity of antibody specific for epitopes of common coronaviruses will be associated with the risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 and severity of illness. In addition, the team proposes that children who have more diverse antibody responses (recognize more epitopes) to common respiratory viruses at baseline may be less likely to become infected and ill with SARS-CoV-2 infection. The study population will consist of children enrolled in multiple NIAID-funded U19 cohorts, including WISC, COAST, URECA, MUPPITS, INSPIRE and others. The award is for $931,579 over 2.5 years.