How immune signals can help HIV vaccines produce broadly neutralizing antibodies
Project 1: The impact of innate immune responses on the development of broadly neutralizing antibodies by vaccination
This project tests whether adding specific vaccine boosters (adjuvants) helps HIV vaccines prompt people’s immune systems to make broadly neutralizing antibodies that can fight many HIV strains.
Quick facts
| Grant type | P01 program project |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Chapel Hill, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11307030 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
From a patient perspective, researchers are exploring whether certain vaccine additives called adjuvants can steer the immune system to create broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV. The team uses germline-targeting HIV envelope protein trimers combined with different adjuvants and studies immune responses in animals and laboratory assays to see how B cells mature. Early experiments in infant and adult rhesus macaques found promising antibody precursors when a TLR7/8 adjuvant was used. If the approach continues to look promising, it could move toward testing in people at risk for HIV.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants for future human trials would be people at risk for HIV infection, potentially including adults and, in carefully designed pediatric studies, infants.
Not a fit: People already living with HIV or those who cannot receive vaccines due to severe immune compromise may not receive direct benefit from this preventive vaccine research.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to HIV vaccines that generate antibodies able to neutralize many different HIV strains, improving prevention options.
How similar studies have performed: Previous preclinical work in rhesus macaques and engineered mice has shown that some adjuvants can increase antibody maturation and long-lived immune responses, with early signs of bNAb precursors in some animals, but the approach remains experimental.
Where this research is happening
Chapel Hill, United States
- Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill — Chapel Hill, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: De Paris, Kristina — Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill
- Study coordinator: De Paris, Kristina
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 below.