A multi-institutional team led by Weill Cornell Medicine has received a five-year, $14.9 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, to find ways to remove latent HIV from the cells of individuals with HIV. The team aims to use a personalized medicine approach to transform the management of HIV into effective cures.
Over 40 million people worldwide are living with HIV, according to the World Health Organization. People with HIV can manage their condition using antiretroviral drugs, which keep bloodstream levels of the virus near zero. But HIV persists in a latent form in some cells, and generally will reactivate, making the virus transmissible and ultimately causing AIDS, if antiretroviral therapy (ART) is stopped. HIV research now focuses to a great extent on the challenge posed by this latent viral reservoir.
The research program, called Innovative Strategies for Personalized Immunotherapies and Reservoir Eradication (INSPIRE), will be led by Dr. Brad Jones, associate professor of microbiology and immunology in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Weill Cornell Medicine. Read the full story in our newsroom.