Vaccine to Prevent HIV Infection in Pregnancy and Newborns

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Investigator: Raul Andino-Pavlovsky, PhD
Sponsor: University of California Davis

Location(s): United States

Description

There is an urgent need for active immunization strategies that, if administered shortly after birth, could protect infants in developing countries from acquiring human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection through breast-feeding. Better knowledge of the immunogenic properties of vaccine candidates in infants and of the effect of maternal antibodies on vaccine efficacy will aid in the development of such a neonatal HIV vaccine. Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection of infant macaques is a useful animal model of pediatric HIV infection with which to address these questions.