UMass AIDS vaccine researchers win $18m grant
University of Massachusetts Medical School scientists who began human testing of an AIDS vaccine five years ago have won two five-year grants totaling $18 million to further their research.
Dr. Shan Lu, professor of medicine and biochemistry and molecular pharmacology at UMass and a specialist in vaccine development, will lead both projects. One seeks to develop protective antibodies that will target the virus where it binds to human immune cells and the other will look further into the cocktail of viral antigens they tested in phase 1 human trials. The funding comes from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Creating an AIDS vaccine has been seen as an almost insurmountable challenge, given the poor results to date. Last week some encouraging news emerged from a massive trial in Thailand where a vaccine met limited success.
Comment
Permalink
E-mail
Contributors
blogger
Elizabeth Cooney is a former
health reporter for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, where she also was a
business reporter and an editor. Earlier in her career, she edited medical
books and journals at Little, Brown, and worked for Boston magazine.Boston Globe Health and Science staff:
- Gideon Gil, Health and Science Editor
- Ishani Ganguli, Short White Coat blogger
