Yale-led Study Explores Predicting Who is Most At Risk for Severe COVID-19

A new study from a partnership between the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and 15 research institutions across the country, including Yale School of Medicine, has unveiled clues for helping scientists predict who is most at risk for severe COVID-19 and who is most likely to survive.

The study was one of the largest and most comprehensive analyses to date and uses a systems immunology approach pioneered by the NIAID Human Immunology Project Consortium (HIPC) at Yale, which is directed by Ruth Montgomery, professor of medicine and of epidemiology (microbial diseases) and associate dean for scientific affairs, and David A. Hafler, chair and a professor of neurology.

Montgomery, a member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE) was also joined by CASE Member Steven Kleinstein, professor of pathology and a HIPC investigator, who led the multi-site data analysis working group to process the individual data types for analysis by the consortium informatics experts.

Collaborators conducted extensive analyses across many different aspects of the immune responses of over 1,000 patients across the country. They assessed samples during hospitalization and for up to a year post-hospitalization to better understand the disease’s heterogeneity, according to a report published on Futurity.org by Yale University.  The researchers published their findings in the Journal of Clinical Investigation in May 2024.

This study is a significant achievement and an exciting starting point, the researchers told Futurity, adding that they have plans to build on this work to better understand more aspects of COVID-19.

For example, they hope to use similar modeling techniques to gain a better understanding of Long COVID and how it develops after an acute infection. By learning more about the intricacies of COVID-19’s underlying mechanisms, they hope to pave the way for new insights into more effective treatments for both acute and lingering disease, the Yale article on Futurity.org explained.

Futurity.org launched in 2009 to combat reductions in science coverage at major news outlets and to give universities a channel to share news directly with the public. The site, with 47 member universities worldwide including Yale, is now a viewed as a valuable resource for evidence-based science and research news for readers around the world.