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Grant aids researchers in studying patients cured of HCV
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Doctors from Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts General Hospital will be co-directing a $12 million grant to study patients who have been effectively cured of hepatitis C viral infection, according to a news release.
John Wherry, PhD, associate professor and director of the Institute for Immunology at University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues will be studying immune responses in patients who have successfully become negative for the infection through treatment with high-potency antiviral drugs, according to the release.
John Wherry
“This is a unique medical opportunity to understand how immunity recovers after complete cure of a long-established chronic viral infection,” Wherry said in the release.
The grant is administered by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and is part of the Cooperative Centers for Human Immunology program.
Research performed at the University of Pennsylvania will include restoration of functional T-cell memory and the epigenetic and transcriptional program of dysfunctional T cells after hepatitis C virus (HCV) cure.
In addition to Massachusetts General Hospital, Wherry also will work with researchers from the Dana Farber Institute. Massachusetts General will focus on the restoration of the effectiveness of the interferon system after an HCV cure, the Ragon Institute will assess possible changes in the virus, and Oxford University will examine the impact of an HCV vaccination to complement direct-acting antiviral agents used to cure HCV, according to the release.