The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded 14 grants totaling $7.8 million in first-year funding for basic research to identify new approaches for designing a safe and effective HIV vaccine. The grants were awarded under the Innovation for HIV Vaccine Discovery (IHVD) initiative, which is expected to receive up to $34.8 million over the next four years.

“Recent discoveries about the basic biology of HIV and how the virus adapts to its host have provided useful information and new opportunities to guide vaccine development,” said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. “These grants are designed to build on that information and stimulate discovery of new ways to design a robust vaccine that prevents acquisition and establishment of latent infection.”

Ragon Institute Investigator Dr. Galit Alter was one of 14 recipients of this NIAID grant.

View full list of awardees  (via NIAID)