New HIV vaccine target

About a month ago, I posted about an article that had been published from some research I worked on Bangladesh. Just last week, an article was published in Science about some exciting results from one of the vaccine studies we were doing in Rwanda. The study was sponsored by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and took place at sites around the world including the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and west, east and southern Africa. At our site, we identified and collected samples from individuals who had been infected with HIV for at least three years but who were clinically well and had never been on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Samples from all sites were sent to international laboratories, where two powerful new broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV were identified. Results also revealed a new vulnerable spot on the HIV virus that no previously-known antibodies have targeted, which is huge news for vaccine development!

After so many disappointments and so much negativity in the world of HIV vaccine research over the past couple years, it's really exciting to see some new developments. Read more here.