A team led by scientists at the Scripps Research Institute has received a grant of more than $13 million from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease of the National Institutes of Health to study antibodies to the human immunodeficiency virus – HIV – which will play an essential role in the creation of any effective HIV vaccine.
Richard Wyatt, professor of immunology and director of viral immunology for the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative’s Neutralizing Antibody Center at the institute, will be the principal investigator for the five-year study. “The long-term goal is to elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV,” Wyatt said. “This is a difficult task because of the variability of the virus.”
Researchers have worked toward an effective HIV vaccine since the virus was isolated in 1983, but this has been challenging, because HIV’s unusual structure helps it evade the immune system and scientists’ attempts to harness the body’s defenses.