The Human Immunology Project Consortium (HIPC) program was established in 2010, and renewed in 2015 and in 2022, by the NIAID Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Transplantation as part of the overall NIAID focus on human immunology. Through this program, well-characterized human cohorts are studied using a variety of modern analytic tools, including multiplex transcriptional, cytokine, and proteomic assays; multiparameter phenotyping of leukocyte subsets; assessment of leukocyte functional status; and multiple computational methods.
Through the HIPC program, centralized research resources and a comprehensive, centralized database will be constructed for use by the greater scientific community. The information gained from the HIPC program will provide a comprehensive understanding of the human immune system and its regulation and will reveal novel associations between components of the immune system and other biological systems, identify novel immune mediators and pathways, establish predictors of vaccine safety in different populations, and enable the rapid evaluation of different vaccine formulations and administration regimens in human populations. This knowledge base will also serve as a foundation for the future study of immune-mediated diseases in the human, such as allergy, asthma, transplant rejection, autoimmune diseases, and a variety of inflammatory diseases.
- Define profiles/signatures/fingerprints of steady-state and activated human immune system
- Create centralized knowledge base & resources
- Facilitate investigations of human immunity
- Develop novel applications for human disease
- Perturbations of the steady-state by infection
- Vaccination
- Adjuvant administration
- Define human transcriptome/proteome using bioinformatics
- Multiplex assays
- Multiparameter phenotyping, systems biology
- Mass spectrometry
The Steering Committee (SC) is comprised of the principal investigators from each HIPC center as well as DHHS scientists and staff. The SC serves as the governing board of the network and directs the collaborative work of the HIPC investigators, determines the use of the Infrastructure and Opportunities Fund, evaluates the progress and direction of the individual awardees and network, and makes recommendations for the continuation or re-direction of projects on an ongoing basis and in consultation with NIAID. The SC Chair is elected annually by majority vote from among the non-Government SC members.
The External Advisory Board (EAB) provides advice to NIAID on the progress of scientific studies, to identify gaps within the program, and review and recommend new opportunities that will contribute to fulfillment of the HIPC mission. EAB members attend the semi-annual investigator meetings to review and discuss HIPC progress and deliverables with the HIPC Steering Committee and with NIAID management staff.
