Date: December 5, 2012 By:
Will those hard-working humanized mice help get us to an AIDS vaccine? Scientists are sounding more optimistic.
“Allen led a recent study that caused a small stir in AIDS vaccine research circles. He and his colleagues found that BLT mice infected with HIV mounted cellular immune responses that closely mirrored those observed in HIV-infected humans, and moreover that HIV also escaped from those responses in a manner very similar to natural infection. Finally, Allen and his team found that BLT mice carrying a human immune-related gene associated with enhanced control of viral replication suppressed the virus in a way that was virtually identical to how humans who express that same gene control the virus. Allen said his lab is now looking at the potential to induce human HIV-specific immune responses in the humanized mice through vaccination.”
Dr. Todd Allen featured in VAX magazine article (Dec 2012).
Researchers at the University of Amsterdam, in collaboration with the Batista Lab at the Ragon Institute, have developed a potential new approach for an HIV vaccine.
Researchers at the Ndhlovu Lab, part of the Ragon Institute and the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI), have completed a significant study on the safety and practicality of lymph node excisions for HIV cure research in South Africa.
We spoke to Kim to learn more about her background, her research journey, and her experiences at the Ragon Institute over the past few months.