MHRP

Thailand

Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences

Research is conducted out of the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS) in Bangkok, Thailand, a joint U.S. Army – Royal Thai Army research effort. AFRIMS has a broad and diverse research portfolio in infectious diseases, including a large Phase III HIV vaccine study.

RV144: Phase III HIV Vaccine Trial

The U.S. Army Medical Component of the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS) helped execute the trial in Thailand on behalf of the trial sponsor. This successful vaccine trial is an example of the longstanding, productive collaboration among U.S. and Thai military and civilian scientists to conduct infectious disease research. 

Researchers are conducting a follow-on study, RV305, a small immunogenicity study will evaluate extended boosting regimens using the same vaccine components that were used in RV144.  The goal of the secondary boost is to try to extend and increase the immune response seen in RV144.

Other HIV Research Activities

Acute Infection Research

  • Early Capture HIV Cohort (ECHO) a study of HIV-1 prevalence, incidence, cohort retention, and host genetics and viral diversity in very early HIV infection within 3-5 days (Fiebig stages I-III) of exposure in high-risk populations in Pattaya. This is part of a multi-site study in East Africa and Thailand (RV217).
  • Acute Infection Study with the Thai Red Cross (RV254).

Phase I HIV Vaccine Trials

  • Phase I study of WRAIR/NIH Live Recombinant MVA-CMDR (HIV-1 CM235 env/ CM240 gag/pol) (RV158)
  • Phase I study of PENNVAX-G DNA (ENV and GAG) with IL-15 DNA plasmid adjuvant administered by intramuscular Biojector® 2000 or Cellectra® Intramuscular Electroporation Device followed by MVA-CMDR (HIV-1 CM235 ENV/CM240 GAG/POL) boost (RV262)
  • Immunological assessment of RV135, a phase I/II of Aventis Pasteur live recombinant ALVAC-HIV (vCP1521) priming with VaxGen 120 B/E (AIDSVAX B/E), using recently validated immuno-monitoring assays (RV209)
  • Assessment of neutralizing antibody in participants from phase I/II trials of ALVAC-HIV (vCP1521) priming with Chiron gp120 B/E, sanofi-pasteur oligomeric gp160, or AIDSVAX™ B/E gp120 B/E boosting against a newly developed, standardized panel of HIV-1 isolates (RV243)

South East Asia Research Collaboration with Hawaii (SEARCH) Collaboration

  • Acute Infection study, a cohort study in high-risk populations to evaluate clinical, immunological, and virological characteristics of persons with acute HIV infection (RV254).
  • HIV-1 specific T-cell responses and monocyte activation in HIV dementia; peripheral reservoir of HIV DNA in monocytes pivotal to cognition in HIV (RV238)
  • Study of full-length and partial HIV genetic sequences in seroconverting blood donors (WRAIR 1587)
  • Characteristics of immune cells in gut mucosa of HIV negative and chronically HIV-infected Thais (RV304)

Siriraj Hospital Collaboration

  • The effect of the HLA B46+ allele on the natural history and progression of HIV-1 infections in Thailand (RV174)

International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) Collaboration

  • A cross-sectional study to screen for and generate broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibodies from HIV infected individuals (RV212)

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Collaboration

  • HIV-1 molecular epidemiology in Bangkok, men who have sex with men cohort study (WRAIR 1505)
  • Assessment of cellular immune responses with VIA assay of ALVAC-HIV/gp120 B/E

About AFRIMS

The U.S. Army Medical Component of AFRIMS is a Special Foreign Activity of Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), hosted by the Royal Thai Army and staffed by American and Thai personnel. For more than 50 years, AFRIMS, in Bangkok, Thailand, has been America's premier platform for the study of infectious diseases of military importance in the Asia-Pacific region.

The largest of the Army's overseas research laboratories; AFRIMS plays a vital role in the study of medical threats facing U.S. forces around the world. Research includes disease surveillance, basic science research, and advanced vaccine and drug development for enteric diseases (infectious diarrhea), malaria, dengue, Japanese encephalitis, hepatitis A and E, scrub typhus, vector control, and HIV/AIDS.

The AFRIMS Department of Retrovirology Laboratory is accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP), registered with the NIH AIDS Research and Reference Reagent Program, and is registered by the Division of AIDS, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

With the emergence of an explosive HIV epidemic in Thailand in the early 1990s, U.S. Army researchers helped to characterize the epidemic and isolate Thai viruses to develop HIV vaccines. U.S. and Royal Thai Army researchers, the Thai Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), and other Thai vaccine experts together developed a plan to test these candidate vaccines in Thailand.

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Prevention, Care and Treatment

The Department of Retrovirology at AFRIMS is engaged in the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in Vietnam. This effort is led by the U.S. Pacific Command and executed through the Naval Health Research Center. AFRIMS’ mission is to provide technical expertise in HIV diagnostics and laboratory development to enhance the capacity for HIV diagnosis and treatment monitoring in Vietnam.
 
The AFRIMS Department of Retrovirology Laboratory is accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and is a collaborating institute of the Comprehensive Antibody Vaccine Immune Monitoring Consortium.