The Emory University School of Medicine has received an $8 million grant to protect adults with leukemia and premature babies from infections during blood cell transfusions.

Those groups are especially vulnerable to infections and other complications from the procedure, according to a university statement.

The five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health will fund a regional clinic trial examining the best ways to protect low birth weight infants from transfusion-related viral infections.

The grant will also study new strategies for rebuilding the immune systems of bone marrow transplant recipients.

“The goal of these projects is to make transfusion and bone marrow transplant recipients safer,” said Dr. Christopher Hillyer, director of the Emory Center for Transfusion and Cellular Therapies.