On Tuesday, scientists announced a new global collaboration between the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology (CHAVI) at Duke University. The move is seen as an encouraging development in a field fraught with frustration.
"Solving the HIV vaccine puzzle is a scientific challenge that can only be solved through fundamental and applied research, collaboration, and transparency," said a statement from Dr. Barton Haynes, CHAVI's director and professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center. "The work that will be done by IAVI, CHAVI, and their networks of partners will rapidly enhance our understanding of HIV and help lay the groundwork for new vaccine approaches."
Key tasks for the new partnership will be studying:
*The genetic sequence of the virus
*Genetic factors that control infection
*Why some people with HIV do not get sick, and
*Standard ways of sampling body tissue where HIV gains entry.
IAVI was established in 1996 and is funded by donations from countries, corporations, aid groups, and individuals. CHAVI was founded in 2005 by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Toward its goal of linking leading AIDS researchers in a single organization, CHAVI's members include 70 investigators at 37 institutions.
04/16/08
GLOBAL: Researchers Join Forces for AIDS Vaccine
Source: News and Observer (Raleigh, NC ):: Sarah Avery; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention