Hiv and siv: Research on a Global Challenge
Human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) causes aids, a disease that severely weakens the immune system, making people more vulnerable to infections and certain cancers. Without treatment, hiv gradually destroys immune cells, turning it into a chronic condition. Thanks to modern medicines, people with hiv now live much longer, but there is still no vaccine or cure. hiv/aids remains a major global health problem.
At BPRC, we use simian immunodeficiency virus (siv) in primate models to better understand hiv/aids. These models show how the virus affects the immune system, enabling the development of new vaccines and strategies to keep the virus under long-term control.
Ongoing Research
Currently, there are no hiv/siv studies.
Previous Research
In the past, we tested various vaccine strategies in our models. We studied not only how well these vaccines work but also how they function. This research was funded by the United States (NIH, Gates Foundation), the European Union (Horizon2020: EHVA; ERC), and partly by internal resources.
Some of these studies and results are described in the following publications:
Funded by NIH (grants 5 PO1 AI066287-02 and AI066287-04):
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25234719/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28701402/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28490585/