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TSRI awarded $4.5 million in grants for development of HIV/AIDS vaccine
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Researchers from The Scripps Research Institute have received two grants totaling more than $4.5 million for the development of an HIV/AIDS vaccine, according to a press release.
Awarded through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery program, the grants will provide The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) new tools to collect and process high-resolution images of HIV protein and antibody interactions. These images would allow the researchers, led by Andrew Ward, PhD, associate professor at TSRI, to further study immunogens effective against the infection. The grants span 5 years.
“HIV is the Mount Everest of viruses,” Ward said in the press release. “This is an effort to screen immunogens and vaccines that have a high likelihood of success.”
Funding also will support the acquisition of increased data processing capabilities for the institute, which received grant money from the Gates Foundation in 2014.
Andrew Ward
“We are delighted by the Gates Foundation’s support of this critical work,” James C. Paulson, PhD, professor and acting president and CEO of TSRI, said in the release. “With 35 million infected individuals worldwide, an effective HIV vaccine is urgently needed to slow and ultimately eliminate new infections.”