University of Washington is part of a consortium led by Seattle Biomed to develop a vaccine that would elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV-1. The $9.8m grant from NIH was announced March 10. Other members of the consortium include Seattle Children's Hospital and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Seattle Biomed Scientific Director Leonidas Stamatatos, PhD, an Affiliate Professor of Global Health will serve as program principal investigator, and will lead the initial phase of the project, which includes the optimization of immunogens. 

The HIV-1 epidemic remains a significant threat to global health, with over 3 million AIDS-related deaths each year, said Stamatos. While access to antiretroviral therapies has increased, Stamatos said the best route of defeating the epidemic remains a universally effective HIV-1 vaccine.

“We look forward to continuing our collaborative research on broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV-1, which was among the top NIAID supported research advances of 2013 according to Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases," he said.

Julie McElrath, MD, PhD, Adjunct Professor of Global Health, and Principle Investigator of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center HIV Vaccine Trials Network, will oversee the clinical testing of immunogens.

The full release is available here.