Virology Core: key lab services for hepatitis B and HIV cure research
Official title: Virology Core
Funded at Johns Hopkins University · NIH-11600324 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A Johns Hopkins-led Virology Core will run advanced HBV testing and support across multiple international projects to help move toward a functional cure for HBV in people living with HIV.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Johns Hopkins University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Baltimore, United States) |
| Project start | September 17, 2025 |
| Project end | July 31, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $19,499 |
| NIH project number | 3U19AI188551-02S4 |
| Project ID | NIH-11600324 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Patients with chronic hepatitis B, people with HIV coinfection, and control groups with hepatitis B are eligible as part of the consortium studies.
✕Less likely to help
Non-participants or individuals not meeting criteria for the HBV/HIV cure studies may not directly benefit.
What this research studies
This core provides standardized, state-of-the-art HBV virological testing on participant samples collected by the Shared Resources Core. It will optimize existing assays and develop new ones to strengthen each project, and will support the use of in vitro and in vivo models used by the full research consortium. The work focuses on characterizing HBsAg dynamics during treatment in people with HIV and hepatitis B, aiming to identify scenarios that could lead to a functional cure. By coordinating across diverse sites in the US and globally, the core ensures high-quality data that feed into statistical analyses of the Hepatitis B HIV Cure Consortium (BICC).
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, patients could benefit from improved understanding of HBV dynamics and accelerated development of curative strategies.
How similar studies have gone: Prior HBV virology work has advanced understanding of antigen dynamics; this project builds on established methods within a multinational consortium.
Where this research is happening
-
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Thio, Chloe L — Johns Hopkins University
- Study coordinator: Thio, Chloe L
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.