Cores and Projects
Administrative & Data Core
The Administrative and Data Analysis Core is responsible for providing overall management, data coordination, and oversight for the Center. The Admin and Data Core is led by Center PI, Dr. Scott Boyd, and Dr. Manisha Desai who oversees data management and integration. Ms. Pema Richeson is the Center Administrator. Together, they will manage and maintain the administrative structure and functions of the Center to facilitate communication and productive collaboration amongst both Stanford SeroNet investigators and also within the larger SeroNet Consortium. Dr. Desai will oversee and contribute to integrated data analysis of the results from all Projects and the Clinical and Virology Core (CVC) in support of the Center’s research goals.
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Clinical & Virology Core
The Clinical and Virology Core (CVC) is led by Drs. Kari Nadeau and Benjamin Pinsky. They will continue to expland clinical cohorts of COVID-19 patients and recipients of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, focusing on an increased proportion of populations at risk for severe disease and the medically underserved. The CVC will provide state-of-the-art biospecimen support for Projects 1- 3 and clinical and assay data to the Administrative/Data Analysis Core. The CVC will also oversee and manage the clinical cohorts and will serve as the hub from which all Projects will obtain high-quality deidentified clinical and virologic data and patient specimens. The CVC will be a focus of new assay development with the goal (and established track record) of rapid translation to implementation in CLIA-regulated Clinical Laboratories.
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Project 1
Project 1 is led by Drs. Taia Wang and Georgios Skiniotis. In Project 1, we will define the heterogeneity of antibody responses produced during SARS-CoV-2 infections and test the hypothesis that particular antibody responses, with respect to the target antigen(s), specific epitopes and antibody effector functions, are required for protection against SARS-CoV-2 infections. Results from these studies, which will include structure determination by cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM), will guide the development of safe and effective vaccines and monoclonal antibodies for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
- Specific Aim 1: Characterize antibodies elicited by SARS-CoV-2
- Specific Aim 2: Define antibody correlates of COVID-19 pathogenesis and protection
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Project 2
Project 2 is led by Drs. Scott Boyd, Ted Jardetzky, and Jayakar Nayak, an interdisciplinary team that seeks to determine the effectiveness and duration of an individual’s humoral immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination. They hypothesize that analysis of memory B cell populations, together with serological responses, may predict which individuals will have longer-lasting humoral protection against re-exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and its variants.
- Specific Aim 1: Analyze B cell responses in acute COVID-19 disease
- Specific Aim 2: Evaluate the formation of B cell memory to SARS-CoV-2
- Specific Aim 3: Analyze mucosal B cell and plasma cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 compared to responses of B cells in the blood
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Project 3
Project 3 is led by Drs. Howard Chang, Mark Davis, and Ansu Satpathy. Together, they will study virus-specific T cell immunity in the blood as well as the respiratory mucosal tissues where the virus is likely to initiate infection. They will compare responses to natural infection with those generated by vaccines, and they will examine the molecular basis for sex differences in immunity to SARS-CoV-2. Together, these novel immunological and genomic analyses and computational algorithms will identify the TCR sequences, specificities, and transcriptional and epigenetic programs governing T cell immunity in COVID-19 patients.
- Specific Aim 1: A comprehensive database of αβ TCRs specific for SARS-CoV-2 and its variants.
- Specific Aim 2: Molecular analysis of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells with high-throughput genomics
- Specific Aim 3: Elucidate the role of X chromosome inactivation in sex bias in COVID-19 immunity
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