Findings from MHRP’s acute HIV infection cohort studies are informing a novel vaccine design strategy. Researchers from the Rolland lab analyzed genetic sequences from the first weeks of HIV infection (Rolland et al., PLoS Pathogens, 2020; Dearlove et al., PLoS Comput Biol, 2021) and found that half of the individuals who developed broadly neutralizing antibodies (Townsley et al., Cell Host Microbe, 2020) had acquired multiple HIV founder variants that were genetically minimally distant from each other, whereas those with a single founder virus developed antibodies with limited neutralization breadth (Lewitus et al., 2022, PLoS Pathogens).
A vaccine that mimics infection with multiple founder variants may provoke the immune system to develop broadly neutralizing antibodies to prevent HIV infection (Lewitus et al., 2022, PLoS Comput Biol ). MHRP has received funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to pursue this strategy for vaccine design. MHRP is also working with BRILLIANT Consortium partners in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania to develop this vaccine strategy in Africa.