Division of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

[1] Specifically, the Division's mission is to increase basic knowledge of the pathogenesis, natural history, and transmission of HIV disease and to support research that promotes progress in its detection, treatment, and prevention.

More information is also needed about how the virus evades the immune system in order to identify additional targets against which therapeutic interventions and vaccines can be directed.

Therapeutics for treating HIV-1 and its associated opportunistic infections (OIs) are discovered through a number of approaches beginning with basic research on the structure and function of viral and cellular proteins critical to the virus life cycle.

In addition, strategies to address critical questions regarding the long-term effects of antiretroviral therapy and the best approaches to medical management are being developed.

For now, clinical evaluations in humans provide the only way of determining whether a vaccine candidate could trigger a safe and effective anti-HIV response in people.

In the past, NIAID supported researchers have improved antigenicity through modifications to the envelope protein, elucidated the envelope structure of HIV, advanced our understanding of the role of cellular responses in controlling HIV, developed improved assays for measuring cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), developed new and better animal models for testing candidate vaccines, and evaluated promising candidates in animal and clinical studies.

As part of this process, DAIDS works with advisory groups and community and health professional organizations, evaluating and redirecting program emphases to respond to changing research needs.