A vital open question about COVID-19 is whether people who've recovered from the virus retain immunity and, if so, for how long.
Now, researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute hope to help answer these questions with their new COVID Immunity Study.
Interested parties who are recovered U.S. residents ages 18 and older can begin by filling out a form at covidimmunity.org.
Those selected will receive a kit for providing two pin-prick blood samples, one week apart.
Researchers will compare antibodies in the blood to better understand beneficial and harmful immune responses, said John Altin of TGen North, who leads the study.
"We take advantage of that time separation to see how responses change. It also gives us extra confidence, having two independent samples, that what we're looking at is real," said Altin.
The findings could inform new diagnostic methods, treatments and vaccines.
Beyond examining thousands of fragments of the invasive spike proteins that make up the coronavirus's "crown," TGen will also look at dozens of other proteins to try to get a more encompassing view of the virus.
Altin said understanding what a good antibody response looks like compared to a detrimental one could provide a clearer picture of how vaccines should work and what they ought to target.
For now, the samples could help identify people who are well suited to donating convalescent plasma, which doctors currently use to treat critically ill patients.
"That's probably one of the most promising therapies that exists today. And so, if we can classify who has a protective and who has the less-protective response, we can start to decide and prioritize plasma donors for that kind of therapy," said Altin.
