Wang-Erickson and Eddens

i4Kids Pilot Grant FY26
Project Period: July 1, 2025 - December 31, 2026
Award Amount: $50,000

Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a major cause of acute respiratory disease worldwide and the second most common cause of lower respiratory infection and hospitalization in US children. Yet most people have never heard of this virus and there is no targeted treatment for HMPV, so it is not routinely tested for in clinical settings. HMPV mutates rapidly, so it can evolve variants that can become the predominant circulating strain in a population. However, HMPV is not typically under genomic surveillance, so the genomic factors that propel certain strains to become dominant remain unknown. Understanding which mutations are associated with dominance would greatly help the development of preventive and therapeutic treatments. Our project will determine which mutations are advantageous to the virus and how those mutations enable variants to become dominant.