The Duke Consortium for Innovative HIV/AIDS Vaccine and Cure Research (CIAVCR) is a collaborative research program lead by researchers at Duke University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
The proposed studies in the Duke CIAVCR program will contribute towards the ultimate goal of ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It has been four decades since the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and a protective vaccine or functional cure have been elusive. In 2020, there was an estimated 37.6 million people living with HIV. Despite highly active anti-retroviral therapies, approximately 500,000 new infections occur every year. Thus, finding a way to end this pandemic remains a global priority. The CIAVCR program will provide new insights into the effects of vaccine-induced polyfunctional immune responses in preventing HIV-1 infection as well as their potential therapeutic impact in eliminating HIV latent reservoirs.