A CITF-funded study that presented results at the CITF scientific meeting in Vancouver, found that an Omicron breakthrough infection (an infection after a full vaccine series) induces a stronger overall immune response than booster vaccination alone. Both mucosal and humoral immunity contribute to the overall immune response to SARS-CoV-2.
A CITF- and CIHR-funded study, published in preprint and not yet peer-reviewed, found that SARS-CoV-2-infected patients experiencing high, sustained interferon signaling have a delayed generation of Spike-specific CD4+ T cells and RBD-specific B cells.
A CITF-funded study, published in Clinical Immunology, found that individuals who were recovering from a SARS-CoV-2 infection and who were then vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had high levels of SARS-CoV-2 neutralization.
In this study, published in preprint and not yet peer-reviewed, Dr. Michael Grant (Memorial University of Newfoundland) and his team in collaboration with Dr. Richard Stanton (Cardiff University, United Kingdom) showed that hybrid immunity confers greater protection against cell-to-cell spread of SARS-CoV-2 than vaccination alone.
A CITF-funded study, published in Scientific Reports, found circulating proteins measured in the early stages of disease progression are reasonably accurate predictors of COVID-19 severity.
A CITF-funded study published in Transplantation aims to identify correlates of protection that would be necessary to safeguard against various SARS-CoV-2 variants. Researchers found that a binding antibody concentration of less than 752 binding antibody units (BAU/mL) resulted in poor immune protection against Omicron, whereas levels over 1357 BAU/ml resulted in 100% neutralization against Omicron.
A CITF-funded study published in AIDS, demonstrated that fourth COVID-19 vaccine doses, irrespective of whether they are monovalent or bivalent, benefit people living with HIV (PLWH) who receive anti-retroviral therapies (ART), including those who have already experienced a SARS-CoV-2 infection.
A partially CITF-funded study published in Cell Reports demonstrated that people infected with SARS-CoV-2, whether before or after vaccination, have better antibody responses than vaccinated individuals who were never infected (SARS-CoV-2 naïve).
A partially CITF-funded, study, published in Vaccines, demonstrated that hybrid immunity, generated by vaccination and recent infection, induces higher humoral responses than vaccination alone against ancestral and Omicron variant BA.5 subvariant BQ.1.1 SARS-CoV-2 strains, regardless of which mRNA vaccine is administered.
In a CITF-funded study published in Vaccines, Dr. Marc-André Langlois (University of Ottawa) found that adjuvanted protein vaccines administered intranasally can elicit strong both systemic and mucosal antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2 variants in mice.