UConn announced October 12 that allied health sciences research professor Laijun Lai received a $3.5 million National Institutes of Health grant to investigate declining immune function in older adults. UConn Center on Aging professor Laura Haynes is a co-investigator.
The five-year project focuses on the thymus, where T cells mature. Researchers will use human induced pluripotent stem cells to produce thymic epithelial cells, then test their function in animal models.
The university says the team will measure generated cells and T-cell function, including responses to influenza in those models. The work builds on earlier laboratory research.
The award funds investigation of a potential therapy. It does not establish a successful treatment in people, clinical availability or guaranteed protection against infection.