SciDev.Net

Barton Haynes heads the CHAVI project

Duke University Medical Center

An international 'virtual research centre' has been awarded US$300 million to support its efforts to develop an HIV vaccine.

The Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology (CHAVI) is a collaboration between four universities from around the world. It is headed by Barton Haynes from Duke University, North Carolina, United States.

The centre is part of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, a public-private initiative to spur HIV vaccine research (see 'Plan to speed up HIV vaccine research unveiled').

CHAVI's research plans include investigating the genetic factors that give some people immunity to the virus. It will also look into why some strains of HIV are more easily transmitted than others.

The seven-year grant was created by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to fund "a bold new approach" to finding a vaccine.