How COVID-19 affects people living with HIV
Official title: Understanding Co-morbidities: COVID-19 in individuals living with HIV/AIDS
Funded at Texas Biomedical Research Institute · NIH-11259486 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Researchers are using monkey models to find out whether having HIV changes how COVID-19 looks and how severe it can be for people with HIV.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Texas Biomedical Research Institute NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (San Antonio, United States) |
| Project start | February 1, 2022 |
| Project end | January 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $983,567 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AI170197-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11259486 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
The most relevant people are adults living with HIV, especially those with evidence of ongoing immune activation or recent COVID-19 infection.
✕Less likely to help
People without HIV are not the focus and would be unlikely to benefit directly from this specific research.
What this research studies
This project uses rhesus macaque models that carry SIV (the monkey version of HIV) and are infected with SARS-CoV-2 to mirror people living with HIV who get COVID-19. The team will compare disease signs during the first infection and in the weeks after to see if underlying SIV-related immune problems make COVID-19 worse. They will also look at whether antiretroviral-like treatment in the model prevents the harmful immune activation thought to drive worse outcomes. Findings aim to link immune changes caused by HIV to how COVID-19 progresses.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help doctors understand which people with HIV face higher risk from COVID-19 and inform better prevention or treatment strategies.
How similar studies have gone: Nonhuman primate models have been useful for studying COVID-19 and vaccines, but combining SIV and SARS-CoV-2 to mimic HIV/COVID co‑infection is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Texas Biomedical Research Institute
San Antonio, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Singh, Dhiraj Kumar — Texas Biomedical Research Institute
- Study coordinator: Singh, Dhiraj Kumar
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.