You can contribute to COVID-19 immunity research.

Join in the Serimmune COVID-19 Study to help scientists understand the immune response to the virus.

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What and Why

Our goal is to understand differences in personal immune response to infection by the COVID-19 virus, SARS-CoV-2. Each individual makes their own unique set of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, and in this study we will investigate how these differences may be important for immunity, the duration of immunity, and for severity of symptoms.

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How it Works

Enroll in the Study
1 Enroll in the Study

To participate, you must meet the eligibility criteria, watch the consent video above and provide written consent by signing the Study Consent Form.

You can start your enrollment process here.

Answer Health Surveys
2 Answer Health Surveys

Before providing a blood sample, we will ask you to answer a few questions about your health and medical history. You will answer this short questionnaire for every sample you provide. To protect your privacy, your medical information will be kept separate from any personal identifiers, and this information will not be shared with outside parties.

You can preview the medical history questionnaire here.

Provide a Blood Sample
3 Provide a Blood Sample

Every 6 months we will mail you a sample collection kit, which you will use to collect your blood at home. Then you simply mail the sample to our lab in the pre-paid envelope provided.

You can watch the instructional video on how to use the blood collection device here.

Get Your COVID-19 Antibodies Report
4 Get Your COVID-19 Antibodies Report

Your blood sample will be analyzed in our laboratory and tested for antibodies against the COVID-19 virus, SARS-CoV-2. For every sample you provide us you will receive a personalized report showing your unique antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 based on our technology, Serum Epitope Repertoire Analysis (SERA).

You can see an example of a report here.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Report
  • How is my total antibody score determined?

    In order to calculate your total antibody score, our technology measures the amount of different antibodies you have to the virus based on the peptide motifs in our library to which the antibodies bind. These motifs mimic the natural binding sites of the antibodies in SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins. The amount of each motif is an approximation of the amount of each antibody present in your blood. We also use a conventional serology test, called an ELISA, which measures the amount of antibodies you have to the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein receptor binding domain (RBD). From these tests we calculate a composite score which indicates whether you have made antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 from either vaccination or natural infection.

    The value of the score may be influenced by many factors which may include: your age, how recently you were exposed or received the vaccine, whether you are taking any medicine that may compromise your immune system and, if you were naturally infected, the severity of your illness. We do not know how long a detectable immune response lasts. That is one of the primary aims of our study. If the antibodies in your blood decrease over time, or even if they become undetectable by our tests, this does not necessarily mean that you are no longer immune to the virus. Another goal of our study is to determine whether people become infected at some point after vaccination and whether that correlates with a decline in antibodies.

  • How is the vaccination vs. natural infection score calculated?

    People that have been naturally infected with SARS-CoV-2 make antibodies to multiple different proteins contained in the virus. People who are vaccinated for SARS-CoV-2, however, will only make antibodies to the spike glycoprotein present in the vaccine. Our test can distinguish natural infection from vaccination by measuring an individuals’ antibodies to peptide motifs from SARS-CoV-2 proteins other than the spike glycoprotein. We have provided this score for people in case they wondered whether they had been naturally infected with COVID-19 during a previous illness, but had never been tested, or if people suspect that they might have COVID-19 whether or not they previously received a vaccine. Occasionally, people who are naturally infected may have a weak response to non-spike proteins and their immune response may look more like a vaccinated person’s response. Additionally, people who were exposed several months previously may have a declining antibody response to the full virus and a subsequent vaccination may selectively enhance the antibody response to spike proteins. In these individuals, the response may also look more like vaccination than natural infection. The majority of the time, we can distinguish these two states.

  • How is my acute or recent COVID-19 infection score calculated?

    Our test measures two different antibody isotypes present in the blood, IgG and IgM. The acute infection score is calculated by specifically measuring IgM antibodies in the blood. These particular IgM antibodies were detected in people with natural infection and are not present in people who have been vaccinated and so they are specific to infection. IgM antibodies are generally the first type to appear after infection and they are also the first to decline. The IgM antibody response varies amongst individuals and with the type of infection. For some types of infections, the IgM response can be prolonged for many months or even longer. From our studies in people naturally infected with COVID-19, the IgM response lasts for several months, however we have limited long term data. In this study, we hope to gain a better understanding about the kinetics of the IgM response to COVID-19.

  • How were the mild, moderate and severe COVID-19 antibody heat maps generated and how should I interpret them compared with my heat map?

    We have screened over 500 COVID-19 cases spanning all disease severities and mapped the detected antibody specificities within each group. These maps showed that people with mild disease have fewer distinct antibody specificities compared with moderate and severe disease. Each person’s antibody response is unique, and the number or relative abundance of an individual’s antibodies doesn’t indicate greater or lesser immunity to the virus. Because of this unique and heterogeneous response, it is not possible to show a heat map of an average antibody response for any severity category. Instead, for each column, we are depicting the range of antibodies that we have identified within each disease severity category, or within vaccinated individuals. There are some antibodies that are found at the same level across all groups, whereas other are present almost exclusively in moderate and/or severe COVID-19 cases. Within each of these columns, the darker the box, the more prevalent and/or more enriched that antibody species is in that severity group. We have provided these columns for reference and as the study progresses, we hope to understand whether the differences we have observed in our studies are representative of the larger population.

    The primary value of the heat map for an individual is to visualize how your personal antibody response changes over time. For example, do some antibodies decrease while others remain? Does your global antibody response remain high for months or years? Does revaccination result in a greater boost of pre-existing immunity than was observed in the initial vaccination? Do people who get COVID-19 after having been previously naturally exposed or vaccinated have less severe cases overall?

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About Serimmune’s COVID-19 Research
Researchers at Serimmune have mapped antibody specificities in SARS-CoV-2 infections back to their target epitopes. We have identified novel immune responses which may one day assist in the development of novel vaccines and therapeutics for this and other viruses.
Learn more about SERA and Serimmune’s Human Immunity Map

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is the Serimmune COVID-19 Study?

    The Serimmune COVID-19 Immunity study “Human antibody repertoire profiling for sero-surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 and other emerging pathogens” is intended to investigate personal immune response to infection by SARS-CoV-2 virus. Each individual makes their own unique set of antibodies to COVID-19, this study investigates how these differences may impact an individual’s experience with the disease.

    Serimmune has a proprietary technology for assessing immune response and the personal antibodies made by an individual. This technology, Serum Epitope Repertoire Analysis or SERA, allows us to measure the antibodies present in a specimen and map them back to specific locations, or epitopes, on the virus. We will use SERA to better understand your specific antibody response.

  • What does it mean to be a “research participant” in the Study?

    This means that you agree to contribute your information to the Serimmune research study. As a participant, we will ask you to do a few things. We have summarized the most important ones below. If you have more questions, you can contact us at covid19study@serimmune.com.

    You will be asked to:

    1. Complete an informed consent document that will provide you details on the study and your participation in it. This is very important.
    2. Enroll through our website and complete a short health assessment.
    3. Provide a blood sample using a home collection kit for analysis.
    4. Provide additional samples from time to time or following infection with SARS-CoV-2.

  • What am I consenting to by enrolling in the study?

    You are consenting to allow researchers to use your blood and associated health information to better understand the human antibody response to COVID-19 and other emerging novel and seasonal pathogens. We encourage participants to remain in the study for the full five-year period, however you may opt out at any time.

  • Will my blood sample be used to diagnose SARS-CoV-2?

    The assay we will perform is not intended to be used as a clinical diagnostic test. If you have had exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the research assay is designed to characterize the antibody profiles that we see against the virus and track how they develop over time.

  • What do I need to do to participate?

    1. Meet these eligibility requirements: 
      • You are over 18 years old and live in the United States. 
      • You are willing to provide blood samples using a home collection kit. 
      • You are willing to complete an online medical history questionnaire every time you provide a sample.
    2. Watch a video that explains the study.  
    3. Sign the Study Consent Form.  
    4. Register in the online study portal. 

  • Do I need a diagnosis of COVID-19 to participate? What if I don’t have COVID-19?

    You do not need to have been diagnosed with COVID-19 to participate in the study. We will run your sample and provide you with the results. If you are exposed in the future, this will tell us about your specific immune response.

  • What if I get COVID-19 during the study?

    If you are infected during the study, focus on getting well. Approximately two weeks after your symptoms started, we would appreciate a sample to test for your antibody response to this recent infection.
    If you would like to provide this additional sample, you may request a blood collection kit by emailing us at covid19study@serimmune.com

  • What if I want to have the COVID-19 vaccine when it’s available?

    Our technology may be able to tell you about your specific immune response to the vaccine and how it differs from the immune response to the native virus.

  • Who can I contact if I have more questions about the Serimmune COVID-19 Study?

    Email Serimmune at covid19study@serimmune.com for additional information.

  • Why is this study helpful to Coronavirus research?

    We hope to better understand the antibodies that individuals make to SARS-CoV-2 and how this may be important for immunity, the duration of immunity, and for severity of symptoms.

  • Will you share my data with third parties?

    Your personal identifying data will never be shared with third parties without your explicit consent; however, we may utilize your de-identified results in our research and technology development. A de-identified result is not tracible back to you personally. If you consent to participate in this study, we may only share your de-identified individual data and population level data with our research collaborators. Our collaborators are obligated to maintain strict levels of confidentiality for all data and will not have access to your personal identifiers.

  • How do you protect the confidentiality of my data?

    All our data, when brought into our computing ecosystem, are disconnected from your contact and identifying information. Data are coded with a unique sample identifier (a sample ID) that does not contain any personal identifying information.

    Our research is performed in a secure computing environment with access restricted to research scientists and system administrators. Our computers and servers are procedurally, electronically and physically protected and monitored and are monitored for unauthorized activity.

  • How will my sample be analyzed and stored?

    Your sample will be analyzed on Serimmune’s proprietary platform SERA or Serum Epitope Repertoire Analysis. Your sample may be stored frozen until the end of the study for re-analysis.

  • I have had COVID-19. Is it safe for me to provide my sample to Serimmune?

    Absolutely. We are interested in the antibodies you may have made in response to infection.

  • Will an Institutional Review Board (IRB) oversee the Serimmune COVID-19 study?

    Yes, this study is being conducted under oversight by WCG IRB study #1297772.

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