Lifetime Omics receives NIH grant to study COVID-19 variants and coinfections
Lifetime Omics’ CLAIRE grant will study whether an oral microbiome test can predict disease severity in COVID-19 patients.
See press release in https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/lifetime-omics-receives-nih-grant-to-study-covid-19-variants-and-coinfections-2021-07-26
Jul 26, 2021 (AB Digital via COMTEX) — Miami, FL – The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a grant in the amount of $248,723 to LIFETIME OMICS, INC., a biotech company in Miami, Florida, to research and innovate biotechnologies for prediction of disease progression in COVID-19 and other infectious respiratory diseases.
The gut microbiome is well-known to be linked to many diseases affecting the gut-brain axis, but bacteria and viruses present in the oral-lung axis have received less attention. The oral microbiome is being researched with renewed interest since the finding that the oral cavity and salivary glands are a primary entry point in the body for the SARS-CoV-2 virus and remain a significant reservoir after infection.
The CLAIRE project stands for CLuster AI pREdiction and combines artificial intelligence and analysis of microbe clusters. The technology involves next-generation sequencing of the saliva metagenome and uses machine learning to identify bacteria and viruses that can predict infectious respiratory disease progression or outcome. CLAIRE is a collaboration between Lifetime Omics and the University of Miami Hospital and Clinics, the recruitment site of COVID-19 patients for the study under the supervision of Jose Castro, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Clinical Director of the Infectious Disease Division at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
“The CLAIRE grant is a great opportunity for Lifetime Omics to demonstrate the predictive power of the microbiome and to further develop innovative omics technologies,” says Patricia Buendia, CEO of Lifetime Omics.
More information about the NIH award can be found in the NIH Reporter at https://reporter.nih.gov/search/MF_RXysUyEK1o39-NaKP_g/project-details/10256828