Research Advances

Daily statin reduces heart disease risk among adults living with HIV

July 24, 2023 – A National Institute of Health-supported study found that statins, a class of cholesterol-lowering medications, may offset the high risk of cardiovascular disease in people living with HIV by more than a third, potentially preventing one in five major cardiovascular events or premature deaths in this population. People living with HIV can have a 50-100% increased risk for cardiovascular disease. The findings are published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Encouraging First-in-Human Results for a Promising HIV Vaccine

June 6, 2023 – The results of an early phase clinical study, published recently in the journal Science Translational Medicine and earlier in Science, showed that an experimental HIV nanoparticle vaccine is safe in people. While the vaccine alone will not offer HIV protection and is intended to be part of an eventual broader, multistep vaccination regimen, the researchers also determined that it elicited a robust immune response in nearly all 36 healthy adult volunteers.

Daily statin reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease in people living with HIV, large NIH study finds

April 11, 2023 – A National Institutes of Health (NIH) clinical trial ended ahead of schedule because of convincing findings that a daily statin medication could reduce the increased risk of cardiovascular disease among people living with HIV. It was the first large-scale clinical study to test a primary cardiovascular prevention strategy in this population.

HIV Can Persist for Years in Myeloid Cells of People on Antiretroviral Therapy

March 27, 2023 — A subset of white blood cells, known as myeloid cells, can harbor HIV in people who have been virally suppressed for years on antiretroviral therapy, according to findings from a small study supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Mixed-Race Woman Potentially Cured of HIV Using Stem Cell Transplant

March 23, 2023 — A woman with leukemia is likely cured of HIV after receiving a transplant including stem cells from banked umbilical cord blood. The result suggests a way to expand the pool of available stem cells for curing HIV in people who require transplants for other medical conditions.

Learn About the Mpox Vaccine

February 14, 2023 — Demetre Daskalakis, MD, MPH, Director, Division of HIV Prevention, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention at CDC and National Mpox Response Deputy Coordinator, answers some of the most common questions about mpox.

Long-acting antiretroviral therapy suppresses HIV among people with unstable housing, mental illnesses, substance use disorders

February 21, 2023 — A long-acting antiretroviral treatment (LA-ART) given every four to eight weeks, and delivered with comprehensive support services, suppressed HIV in people who were previously not virologically suppressed. This is according to an ongoing demonstration study of 133 people with HIV in San Francisco, funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study focused on reaching people who have historically had decreased access to antiretroviral therapy (ART), including people experiencing housing insecurity, mental illnesses, and substance use disorders. The study findings indicate that long-acting injectable ART can benefit people who face many treatment barriers and are historically underserved.

Experimental HIV Vaccine Regimen Safe but Ineffective, Study Finds

January 18, 2023 - An investigational HIV vaccine regimen tested among men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people was safe but did not provide protection against HIV acquisition, an independent data and safety monitoring board (DSMB) has determined. The HPX3002/HVTN 706, or “Mosaico,” Phase 3 clinical trial began in 2019 and involved 3,900 volunteers ages 18 to 60 years in Europe, North America, and South America. Based on the DSMB’s recommendation, the study will be discontinued. Participants are being notified of the findings, and further analyses of the study data are planned.

HIV Silencing and Cell Survival Signatures in Infected T Cell Reservoirs

January 5, 2023 — NIH scientists and partners developed technology to provide a genome-wide expression profile of cells harboring latent HIV, which could enable the search for new HIV cure strategies that target infected cell reservoirs.

Early HIV Diagnosis and Treatment Important for Better Long-term Health Outcomes

October 21, 2022 — Starting antiretroviral treatment (ART) early in the course of HIV infection when the immune system is stronger results in better long-term health outcomes compared with delaying ART, according to findings presented today at the IDWeek Conference in Washington, D.C. The findings are based on an extended follow-up of participants in the National Institutes of Health-funded Strategic Timing of Antiretroviral Treatment (START) study.

Three-dose Hepatitis B Vaccine Regimen Protects People with HIV

October 20, 2022 — A three-dose course of the hepatitis B vaccine HEPLISAV-B fully protected adults living with HIV who had never been vaccinated against or infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV), according to study findings presented today at the IDWeek conference in Washington, D.C. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, sponsors the ongoing Phase 3 ACTG A5379 clinical study.

NIH Announces Additional Funding Awards for Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative Implementation Research Projects

October 6, 2022 — Last month, as part of their support of the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. (EHE) initiative, NIH announced 66 awards to institutions participating in the NIH-funded Centers for AIDS Research (CFAR) and the NIMH AIDS Research Centers (ARC) programs. This was the fourth year of NIH investments in EHE-focused research projects. These new awards total $26 million and will support research in 33 of the EHE priority jurisdictions to strengthen research-community collaborations and enhance the implementation science knowledge base needed to end the HIV epidemic.

White House Publishes Federal Implementation Plan for National HIV/AIDS Strategy

August 26, 2022 — The National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) Federal Implementation Plan reflects the collaborative work of representatives from 10 federal departments and details more than 380 action items they will implement individually and collaboratively. This plan documents federal agencies’ commitments to programs, policies, research, and other activities needed to meet the NHAS goals. These critical activities, which encompass work to for fiscal years 2022–2025, will move our indicators of progress in the right directions.

New Insights into HIV Latent Cells Yield Potential Cure Targets

July 27, 2022 — In a presentation today at AIDS 2022, the 24th International AIDS Conference in Montreal, scientists with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ (NIAID) Vaccine Research Center (VRC) and their collaborators described how their use of cutting-edge technology revealed new insights into cellular reservoirs of HIV and what those observations could mean for the next steps in HIV cure research. NIAID is part of the National Institutes of Health.

Finding HIV’s ‘Sweet Spot’

July 22, 2022 — An NIH-funded team has found that patterns of sugars at the surface of our own human immune cells affect their vulnerability to HIV infection.

In people with HIV, treating precancerous anal lesions cuts risk of anal cancer by more than half

June 15, 2022 — Nearly all cases of anal cancer are caused by infection with cancer-causing types of HPV.

Creating a one-stop shop for HIV research

June 9, 2022 — access issue of the Journal of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (JAIDS) will highlight HIV implementation science findings, reported by scientists and implementations teams funded by the National Institutes of Health through the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative. (JAIDS)

How Lessons From HIV Research Informed COVID-19 Vaccine Trials

May 12, 2022 — A new study shows how community engagement approaches developed by the HIV Vaccine Trials Network strengthened COVID-19 vaccine trials.

Transactional sex, HIV and health among young cisgender men and transgender women who have sex with men in Thailand

April 8, 2022 — Study examines how recent sex work is identified and the HIV risk factors and service needs among Thai cisgender men who have sex with men and transgender women who exchange sex. (Elsevier: Annals of Epidemiology)

NIH launches clinical trial of three mRNA HIV vaccines

March 14, 2022 — Phase 1 study is among first to examine mRNA technology for HIV.

Researchers document third known case of HIV remission involving stem cell transplant

February 15, 2022 — Woman has remained without detectable HIV for 14 months

First HIV Vaccines Administered in Moderna Clinical Trial

January 2022 – Moderna announces the launch of human clinical trials for an experimental HIV vaccine that uses the same kind of mRNA technology found in Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. (The Hill)

NIH celebrates FDA approval of long-acting injectable drug for HIV prevention

December 21, 2021 — Approval marks pivotal expansion of HIV prevention options in the United States.

Experimental mRNA HIV vaccine safe, shows promise in animals

December 9, 2021 — NIH scientists developed vaccine platform.

AIDS and Behavior: Volume 25, supplement issue 2, November 2021

November 2021 — Includes 14 articles on Innovations in Methods and Measurement Science on the Social Determinants of HIV. (AIDS and Behavior).

Too many people with HIV fail to achieve durable viral suppression

November 30, 2021 — NIH-funded study estimates global progress toward UNAIDS goal.

NIH researchers identify how two people controlled HIV after stopping treatment

October 29, 2021 — Different mechanisms suppressed the virus in each person.

NIH Awards More than $20 Million to International HIV Database Centers

July 22, 2021 — The National Institutes of Health has renewed grants to seven regional centers that compose the International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA), awarding $20.8 million in first-year funding. The 15-year-old IeDEA program efficiently advances knowledge about HIV by pooling and analyzing de-identified health data from more than two million people with HIV on five continents to answer research questions that individual studies cannot address. The grants are expected to last five years and to total an estimated $100 million.

NIH-funded study tests “one-stop” mobile clinics to deliver HIV, substance use care

June 9, 2021 — Mobile clinics could serve as an innovative strategy for expanding access to care.

HIV Related Stigma Research as a Priority at the National Institutes of Health

April 22, 2021 — The National Institute of Health (NIH) recognizes that ending the HIV epidemic will require eliminating HIV-related stigma, which continues to be a critical barrier to the uptake of evidence-based HIV interventions, and in this article the authors provide an overview of NIH HIV stigma research and findings. (AIDS and Behavior)

NIH experts call for accelerated research to address concurrent HIV and COVID-19 pandemics

April 8, 2021 — The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting people with or at risk for HIV indirectly and direct.

HIV/AIDS in the Era of COVID-19: A Juxtaposition of Two Pandemics

April 7, 2021 — Effective responses to concurrent COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS pandemics require a novel coordinated and collaborative global effort to accelerate biomedical research and implementation science to operationalize evidence-based interventions expeditiously. (The Journal of Infectious Diseases)

Profile: Fogarty Fellow Dr. Joseph Matovu investigates HIV self-testing in Ugandan fishing community

March/April 2021 – When social network leaders were trained to disseminate HIV self-testing kits, more than 95% were properly used and returned. (NIH Fogarty International Center Global Health Matters Newsletter, Image courtesy of Moses Mayombwe)

Scaling Up Covid-19 Vaccination in Africa – Lessons from the HIV Pandemic

March 31, 2021 — Concerns about access to Covid-19 vaccines in Africa resemble concerns raised about responding to the HIV pandemic in the mid-1990s and early 2000s, when highly active antiretroviral treatment was accessible in high-income countries but limited in African countries. (The New England Journal of Medicine)

Methodological and Measurement Advances in Social Determinants of HIV: View from NIH

March 29, 2021 — Lessons learned from a Request for Applications that called for methodological innovations around the social determinants of HIV and provided a unique opportunity to reflect on the state of the science. (AIDS and Behavior)

Final HIV Prevention & Treatment Research Highlights from CROI 2021 (video)

March 12, 2021— Dr. Carl Dieffenbach, director of the Division of AIDS at NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and his colleague Dr. Hillary Hoffman, joined HIV.gov for a conversation about the latest HIV prevention and treatment research presented during the 2021 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections. (HIV.gov)

Unique genotypic features of HIV-1 C gp41 membrane proximal external region variants during pregnancy relate to mother-to-child transmission via breastfeeding

January 2021 - Findings from a pilot study on mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV-1 through breastfeeding raise the possibility for predicting MTCT by breastfeeding based on identifying mothers with high-risk viral populations. (Journal of Clinical Pediatrics and Neonatology)

Antibody Infusions prevent acquisition of some HIV strains, NIH studies find

Tuesday, January 26, 2021 – Results of Antibody-Mediated Prevention Studies funded by the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases will inform development of long-acting antibody-based HIV prevention tools. (Image Credit: NIAID)

To end HIV epidemic, we must address health disparities

February 19, 2021 — Expert report cites unequal progress in Southern U.S. and among marginalized groups.