NIH grant: High-Throughput Detection of Autoimmune Antibodies with Beads by Time-Of-Flight (B-TOF) (1R41AI197809-01)

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NIH grant 1R41AI197809-01: High-Throughput Detection of Autoimmune Antibodies with Beads by Time-Of-Flight (B-TOF)
Institute: {'code': 'AI', 'abbreviation': 'NIAID', 'name': 'National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases', 'admin_org_id': '12500003', 'admin_funding_url': ''}. PI: David Robert McIlwain. Award: $306810.
Start: 2026-07-22T00:00:00.
PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
Autoimmune diseases impose a significant burden on global health, driving chronic disease that leads to lasting
disability and markedly reduced quality of life. However, current autoimmune diagnostic approaches often rely
on single-analyte assays that are time-consuming, costly, and require multiple patient visits. We recently
developed Beads by Time-of-Flight (B-TOF), a groundbreaking high-throughput platform for antibody
detection that outperforms even existing multiplexed antibody detection assays by over 100-fold. In this
project, B-TOF will be adapted to address major challenges in autoimmune disease diagnostics by enabling the
simultaneous detection of large numbers of autoantibodies associated with systemic and organ-specific
autoimmune disease using a single assay. By combining our novel bead-based multiplex technology with a panel
of carefully selected recombinant autoantigens, our approach will offer a quantitative, high-throughput, and cost-
effective detection strategy to improve autoimmune disease diagnosis.
This project aims to develop and validate the first comprehensive autoimmunity panel for B-TOF targeting
biomarkers associated with highly prevalent autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), type
1 diabetes (T1D), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), autoimmune thyroid diseases (Hashimoto’s
thyroiditis and Graves’ disease), Sjögren’s syndrome, and celiac disease. Key performance metrics of the
panel will be determined using reference standards and clinical samples. The proposed technology leverages
recombinant antigens with well-established specificity and sensitivity for the detection of autoimmunity and thus
will provide robust, reproducible results suitable for both clinical diagnostics and research applications.
The successful development of a highly multiplexed autoimmune antibody panel for B-TOF will deliver a
scalable and versatile solution to autoimmune diagnostics. The efficiencies gained by this novel approach will
dramatically reduce per-sample analysis costs, making future routine autoantibody monitoring feasible—thereby
facilitating early disease detection, enabling earlier and more effective intervention, and ultimately improving
patient outcomes. This work directly supports multiple priorities of NIH/NIAID’s Autoimmunity and Mucosal
Immunology Branch, including the development of high-throughput immune assays, validated diagnostics, and
biomarkers to assess risk, disease activity, and therapeutic response. The project will be carried out in
collaboration with experts in immunology and autoimmunity, leveraging our strengths in multiplex assay
development and recombinant antigen validation

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