AIDSWEEKLY Plus, 18 March 1996 issue; Published by Charles Henderson, Publisher. Editorial & Publishing Office: P.O. Box 5528, Atlanta, GA 30307-0528 / Telephone: (800) 633-4931; Subscription Office: P.O. Box 830409, Birmingham, AL 35283-0409 / FAX: (205) 995-1588
Daniel J. DeNoon, Senior Editor

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has announced a major program of grants and contracts to support the development of vaccines and other means of preventing AIDS.

The program is called the Vaccine and Prevention Research Program (VPRP). It is organized into an associate director's office, a preclinical research branch, a clinical development branch, and an efficacy trials branch.

The associate director is Patricia Fast, office telephone (301) 402-0846. The chief of the preclinical research branch is Alan Schultz, office telephone (301) 402-0121. The chief of the clinical development branch is James McNamara, office telephone (301) 496-8200. The chief of the efficacy trials branch is Rodney Hoff, office telephone (301) 496-6177.

NIAID has released the following announcement:

"The Vaccine and Prevention Research Program (VPRP) plans and directs a comprehensive program of research grants and contracts to foster the development of vaccines and other biomedical and behavioral interventions for the prevention of AIDS. Basic laboratory research studies are expanding knowledge on the mechanisms of immunity to HIV and providing information on the most promising candidate vaccines. A substantial, collaborative effort supports animal studies that examine the effects of a wide range of potential vaccines in several retroviral models. Because of this important work, several vaccine candidates are being evaluated in human clinical trials.

"In addition, preparation for efficacy trials of candidate vaccines is underway. DAIDS [the NIAID Division of AIDS] is working with various communities to establish the capability to perform efficacy trials of vaccines or other prevention interventions. In addition to vaccines, DAIDS's HIV prevention efforts are currently focused on chemoprophylactic agents, microbicides, and behavioral strategies. The following branches make up VPRP: Preclinical Research Branch

"Coordinates research to foster the preclinical development and evaluation of safe and effective AIDS vaccines and adjuvants for the prevention of AIDS. Resources supported by this branch include:

1) the National Cooperative Vaccine Development Groups for AIDS (NCVDGs) in which research teams from industry, academia, and government collaborate to develop novel experimental HIV vaccine concepts;

2) the SIV Vaccine Evaluation Units, which conduct standardized and directly comparable evaluations of various vaccine candidates in the SIV model;

3) a Chimpanzee Unit, to evaluate candidate vaccine concepts and products in chimpanzees;

4) the HIV Variation Project, which investigates the rate and magnitude of genetic variation in HIV and related retroviruses and explores the impact of this variation on development of vaccines for HIV;

5) the Correlates of Human Immune Protection (CHIP), which examines genetic or biologic factors that affect the body's response to HIV exposure and infection;

6) the collaborative Mucosal Immunology Groups (CMIGS), which characterize the immune response to the virus in both infected as well as non-infected (vaccinated) people and primates; and

7) the Master Contractor Agreement, which provides facilities and resources to evaluate and test SIV/AIDS vaccine strategies in non-human primates.

Clinical Development Branch

"Coordinates Phase I and II clinical trials of candidate AIDS vaccines. Resources supported by this branch include:

* The AIDS Vaccine Evaluation Group (AVEG), which consists of six AIDS Vaccine Evaluation Units at medical centers around the United States (University of Rochester, New York; Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland; Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee; St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri; University of Alabama, Birmingham; and University of Washington, Seattle).

* Two Central Immunology Laboratories (Duke University, Durham, North Carolina; and University of Alabama, Birmingham).

* A statistical center (EMMES Corporation, Potomac, Maryland).

* Various advisory bodies including a Data Safety Monitoring Board and an AIDS Vaccine Selection Group. Efficacy Trials Branch

"Supports research on cohorts to prepare for and conduct large-scale domestic and international clinical trials of HIV vaccines and other biomedical and behavioral interventions to prevent sexual, perinatal, and parenteral transmission of HIV. The resources supported by this branch include:

* The HIV Vaccine Efficacy Trials Network (HIVNET), which conducts clinical and field trials of HIV vaccines and other prevention strategies in U.S. and international populations.

* The Women and Infants Transmission Study (WITS), a longitudinal cohort study of infected women and their children.

* Investigator-initiated research, both solicited and unsolicited, on the epidemiology, virology, immunology, and behavioral aspects of HIV transmission."

Copyright (c) 1995 - Charles Henderson, Publisher. All rights Reserved. Permission to reproduce granted to AEGIS by Charles W. Henderson. Authorization to reproduce for personal use granted granted by C. W. Henderson, Publisher, provided that the fee of US$4.50 per copy, per page is paid directly to the Copyright Clearance Center, 27 Congress Street, Salem, Massachusetts 01970, USA.

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Copyright © 1996 - Charles Henderson, Publisher. All rights Reserved. Permission to reproduce granted to AEGIS by Charles W. Henderson. Authorization to reproduce for personal use granted granted by C. W. Henderson, Publisher, provided that the fee of US$4.50 per copy, per page is paid directly to the Copyright Clearance Center, 27 Congress Street, Salem, Massachusetts 01970, USA.