CVM researchers receive grant to develop promising HIV treatment

CVM researchers led by Dr. Pamela Skinner recently received a $480,000 grant from the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) to develop a treatment for durable remission of HIV, which remains a leading cause of death and a threat to millions in some regions of the world.

While existing antiretroviral drugs offer powerful tools for keeping HIV in check, one of the primary challenges the disease poses is its persistence. HIV-infected cells hide in tissue sites called lymphoid follicles, allowing them to give rise to new rounds of infection. Dr. Skinner’s study will look at a promising new approach targeting these sites—to essentially remove the virus from a person’s body altogether.

In earlier work, the team engineered immune cells to zero in on lymphoid follicles and access the viral reservoir they host. The current work will refine this new immunotherapy through additional genetic modifications to improve the cells’ targeted access to the lymph node reservoir and to strengthen their own resistance to becoming infected. Dr. Skinner notes, “If we are successful, we will engineer cells from people living with HIV to control HIV infection without the need for antiretroviral drugs.”