IAVI G001

HVTN 908

IAVI W001

HVTN 302

RV 546

Research Fundamentals: An HIV Vaccine — What’s the challenge and what’s the science?

Some vaccines are easier to develop than others. COVID-19 vaccines were developed with unprecedented speed, taking a matter of months to become available. A measles vaccine took about 10 years to develop. But the field’s been working on an HIV vaccine for 40 years.

In this episode, AVAC’s Jeanne Baron and co-host immunologist Katharine Kripke of AVENIR Health explore why HIV is different with two experts on vaccine research: Caltech’s Pamela Bjorkman and IAVI’s Vincent Kioi.

Learn how HIV has evolved like no other virus today to escape detection by the immune system. Learn why the right target on HIV is so hard to reach and how scientists are tackling it all.

Previous Research Fundamentals

More Vaccine Resources

Time to Develop a Vaccine

We know that an AIDS vaccine is possible and that a vaccine will be an important part of a long-term strategy to end the AIDS epidemic. The road ahead is long, but clinical trials—even those with disappointing results—and early-stage research provide critical clues to the way forward. This graphic is excerpted from Vaccines by the Numbers: Trials, discoveries, money and more.

Phase 1 mRNA HIV Vaccine Trials

A breakdown of current HIV mRNA trials and a primer on the basics of mRNA technology.

Experimental mRNA-based Preventive HIV Vaccine Phase 1 Trials

The NIH announced a new study to test three mRNA-based HIV vaccine candidates. This study follows an announcement in January from IAVI about another mRNA-based HIV vaccine study. This snapshot compares the two studies.

Research Fundamentals: What is an endpoint?

The next installment of our Px Pulse series Research Fundamentals, explaining key concepts in HIV prevention research, is up. In this episode, Px Pulse host Jeanne Baron and Matthew Rose, a veteran HIV advocate and now Director at Global Health Strategies, look at endpoints in research.

Endpoints are a crucial component in every clinical trial but they are not always well understood. In addition, advocates can and should play a role, reviewing endpoints and interrogating how well the trial will serve communities that need HIV prevention.

Joining us to explore all this are:

  • Dave Glidden, Professor of Epidemiology & Bio-statistics at UC San Francisco
  • Erica Lessem, Senior Strategist for NYC Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene, former Deputy Executive Director, Treatment Action Group
  • Meagan O’Brien, Senior Medical Director of Early Clinical Development & Clinical Experimental Sciences at Regeneron

Listen to learn how endpoints are used in clinical research, why they change overtime, and what matters most about endpoints for advocates and researchers alike.