Two Past NBF Grant Recipients Publish Research Letter in Science

Two past recipients of National Blood Foundation early-career Scientific Research Grants have published a research letter in Science on the probable efficacy of the three authorized COVID-19 vaccines against disease variants. In the letter, Larry L. Luchsinger, PhD, and Christopher D. Hillyer, MD, examined vaccine efficacy measured by neutralization antibody (nAb) levels in non-human primate challenge experiments. According to Luchsinger and Hillyer, data from Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson suggest that these vaccines are likely to be effective against mutant strains of COVID-19, despite differences in nAb levels. 

“These studies show that what appears to be magnitudes of difference in NAb activity may not necessarily correlate with clinical immunity,” Luchsinger and Hillyer wrote. “As variant strains emerge, we will need to reevaluate vaccine efficacy by testing the inhibition of viral infection in vivo rather than by quantifying the antibodies produced after in vitro exposure.”

Luchsinger, assistant member, Stem Cell Regenerative Medicine, at the New York Blood Center (NYBC), received an NBF grant in 2020 for a research project to study whether plasma membrane signaling pathways underpin hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) function and to develop HSC expansion methods to generate blood products in vitro. Hillyer, president and CEO of NYBC, is a past president of AABB and an inaugural member of the NBF Hall of Fame. He received an NBF grant in 1991 for research related to peripheral blood stem cells for allogeneic transplantation. 

The National Blood Foundation provides critical funding to support early-career investigators – many of whom are now leading experts in transfusion medicine and biotherapies. AABB encourages members of the blood community to continue to invest in promising early-career researchers by making a gift to the NBF today.