HIV/AIDS

Developing a vaccine to halt the AIDS epidemic is a key part of the mission of the Emory Vaccine Center, and much of the research at the EVC relates to this effort. Scientists specializing in basic immunology strive to elucidate the fundamental workings of the immune system and how it responds to infection. Other investigators examine the interaction between HIV and the immune cells it attacks in order to identify ways to prevent or interrupt the process by which the virus destroys the immune system.

Researchers translate these findings into new AIDS vaccine strategies, which are tested rigorously in preclinical studies for safety and efficacy before being considered for human clinical trials. The Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center, a freestanding clinic located in downtown Decatur, Georgia, conducts vaccine clinical trials and related research studies involving human volunteers. Thus, the EVC’s AIDS vaccine program spans the entire research process, from basic science to translational research to preclinical and clinical trials.

The EVC is the only university-based vaccine research center in the U.S. to have an AIDS vaccine candidate in clinical trials. Created and developed by EVC scientist Harriet Robinson, Ph.D., and her colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, this vaccine candidate successfully prevented AIDS in monkeys.