Vaccine designs to trigger broadly neutralizing HIV antibodies
Developing Immunogens to Elicit Broadly Neutralizing anti-HIV-1 Antibodies
This project tests new vaccine components meant to teach the immune system to make broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV for people at risk.
Quick facts
| Grant type | P01 program project |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | California Institute of Technology NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Pasadena, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11252594 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Researchers are designing and testing a sequence of vaccine pieces that first 'prime' rare precursor B cells and then give 'boosts' to guide those cells to become broadly neutralizing antibody producers. The team compares different boosting immunogens in laboratory studies and in wild-type and engineered mice to find which boosts keep the immune response focused on the right viral targets. They are also studying how antibody feedback and the number and quality of T follicular helper cells influence whether off-target, non-neutralizing responses take over. The experiments aim to identify immunization sequences that consistently produce the kinds of antibodies that can neutralize many HIV strains.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: In the future, people at risk of HIV infection or volunteers for HIV vaccine trials would be the ideal candidates for testing these vaccine approaches.
Not a fit: People already living with established HIV infection are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this preventive vaccine-focused research.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help produce an HIV vaccine that induces broadly protective antibodies and lowers the risk of new infections.
How similar studies have performed: Previous work has produced promising priming immunogens but has not yet achieved reliable induction of broadly neutralizing antibodies in humans, so this builds on promising but still unproven preclinical advances.
Where this research is happening
Pasadena, United States
- California Institute of Technology — Pasadena, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Bjorkman, Pamela J — California Institute of Technology
- Study coordinator: Bjorkman, Pamela J
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.