NIAID Online Update - May 20, 2008

NIAID is launching a new research program to advance underdeveloped approaches to designing a preventive HIV vaccine. This $15.6 million, five-year program will foster the study of B cells, immune cells that can produce antibodies with the capacity to neutralize HIV.

HIV is devilishly good at fooling B cells and shielding itself from antibodies or changing its antigenic parts, so antibodies can rarely rid the body of the virus. Grantees will aim to uncover mechanisms that will enable scientists to outwit HIV and stimulate B-cell production of long-lasting antibodies that can neutralize many strains of the virus.

In recent years, investigator-initiated grants supported by NIAID have focused more heavily on T-cell based approaches to preventive HIV vaccines than on B-cell based ones. Many experts believe a successful HIV vaccine will probably need to activate both T cells and B cells; consequently, NIAID's creation of the new B-cell research program is an important stimulus for HIV vaccine discovery.

For more information, go to: http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/2008/b_cell_grants.htm.

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NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health. NIAID supports basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose and treat infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, influenza, tuberculosis, malaria and illness from potential agents of bioterrorism. NIAID also supports research on basic immunology, transplantation and immune-related disorders, including autoimmune diseases, asthma and allergies.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH)¡The Nation's Medical Research Agency¡includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.

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