Project description
How social engagement enhances antiviral immune responses
The more social a person is, the healthier they are. The recognition of the importance of social connections has increased after the pandemic era. Isolation and loneliness have increased inflammation levels and weakened immunity. Therefore, it is important to investigate how enhancing social interaction can boost our immune system. There is evidence from animals showing how social interaction increases immune response, but there are no clinical trials in humans. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the SocialImmunity project aims to investigate how social interaction increases the immune response against viruses, particularly the involvement of the reward-related neural network.
Objective
Renewed awareness of the fundamental importance of social connection has emerged in the post-pandemic era, with supportive relationships recognised as vital to health and survival as food or water. Decades of research show isolation and loneliness increase inflammation and impair antiviral defence. The critical next step is to determine whether and how actively increasing social engagement can causally strengthen immune defences. Addressing this gap will clarify mechanisms, identify those most at risk, raise clinical awareness, and guide interventions.
SocialImmunity introduces an innovative framework integrating population-scale modelling with mechanistic experimentation to investigate how social engagement improves antiviral immune responses. The central hypothesis is that reward-related brain circuits mediate immune benefits of positive social interactions. Evidence from animal studies suggests dopaminergic activation, triggered by rewarding social experiences, enhances innate and adaptive immunity, yet this pathway remains untested in humans.
The project pursues three objectives: (1) examine whether social engagement is associated with antiviral immune markers at the population level, and test mediation by reward-related brain connectivity using advanced modelling; (2) develop and pilot a social engagement intervention to assess feasibility and its effect on reward motivation; and (3) test causality by conducting a randomised controlled trial to determine whether increasing social engagement enhances vaccine-induced antibody response, and whether this effect is mediated by reward-related mechanisms.
By integrating epidemiological evidence with mechanistic experimentation, SocialImmunity will advance understanding of how social engagement contributes to immune resilience and reward-related neural pathways. SocialImmunity can inform low-cost strategies to improve health, reduce vulnerability to infection, and combat loneliness through scalable interventions.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences computer and information sciences data science big data
- medical and health sciences basic medicine immunology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
CB2 1TN CAMBRIDGE
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.