U. receives $4.2M to study AIDS

A $4.2 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) will enable University scientists to study and possibly develop a vaccine against the AIDS virus. The four-year grant is among the first awarded by NIAID as part of its Strategic Program for Innovative Research on treatments for the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, according to Nava Sarver, acting chief of the Targeted Intervention Branch in the AIDS division. The Institute approved the University's grant application based upon its technical merit and potential for success, Sarver said. "It fits very well into our general agenda for exploring innovative strategies to boost the immune system in HIV disease," she said. David Weiner, assistant professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, said the grant will support further research into a new kind of AIDS treatment that he and his colleagues developed. According to Weiner, the treatment involves injecting segments of viral DNA -- called "cassettes" -- into infected tissue, causing responses necessary for controlling the virus. Weiner and Apollon, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company in Pennsylvania, systematically designed these cassettes from dead strands of the HIV virus and viral proteins. "The idea is to beef up the immune system against the virus and hopefully maintain [a] state of control and keep the virus infection silent," Weiner said. Earlier studies conducted by Weiner's group with mice, rats, rabbits and non-human primates have demonstrated that DNA injection does indeed stimulate the immune system. But, the researchers have not yet determined whether the treatment will prevent subsequent infection in HIV-positive subjects, he said. The grant will allow Weiner's team to investigate this possibility as well as begin clinical testing of the treatment. "What we're trying to do is see if it is safe," Weiner said. "We're going to do more studies, particularly in animals." HIV researcher and Medical School graduate James Hoxie said the greatest obstacle in finding a vaccine for AIDS is the virus' extraordinary ability to change. "What you want to be sure is that the pieces of the virus in the vaccine are preserving structures that are important in the immune system," said Hoxie, who has been studying the AIDS virus since the early '80s. If the results of the preliminary studies are positive, Weiner said his team hopes to conduct studies in HIV-positive humans. "[These studies] will be designed for the ultimate consideration of safety for the individual," he added. "We believe that this is a great responsibility and we are very thrilled as a group."