HIV

Barton F. Haynes, MD
Feng Gao, MD
Hua-Xin (Larry) Liao, MD, PhD

Since the beginning, a major focus of DHVI investigators has been the development of a safe and effective HIV vaccine. This effort has been long and complicated due to the extraordinary nature of HIV diversity and the ability of HIV to evade host immune responses. Nonetheless, studies demonstrating the ability of cytotoxic T cells (killer T cells) to control HIV replication as well as high levels of neutralizing antibodies to protect against HIV infection (provide sterilizing immunity), have bolstered HIV vaccine developers and suggested that an immunogen that induces broadly reactive killer T cell responses and B cell neutralizing antibodies could be helpful in stemming the AIDS epidemic. To this end, the DHVI Development Team has a broad-based program to develop a number of experimental immunogen constructs for testing in animals and in humans.