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Researchers hope to protect humans from another deadly outbreak like HIV

Throughout Asia, humans and monkeys live side-by side in many urban areas. An international research team from the University of Washington, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Jahangirnagar University has been examining transmission of a virus from monkeys to humans in Bangladesh, one of the world's most densely populated countries.

5 Sep 2013

'Dark matter' in human genome may play role in cancer biology and cell death

The St. Laurent Institute, a non-profit medical research institute focused on the systems biology of disease, today announced in a study published in the July edition of Genome Biology, that genetic matter, previously ignored by the scientific community, may play an important role in cancer.

1 Aug 2013

Researchers secure $16 million NIH grant to investigate impact of HIV/AIDS on women

Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Montefiore Medical Center today announced they received a $16 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate the impact of HIV and AIDS on women.

31 Jul 2013

RetroNectin reagent now available for gene therapy clinical research

In an effort to aid progress in gene therapy clinical research, representatives of Clontech laboratories, Inc. and its parent company Takara Bio Inc. announce the availability of clinical grade RetroNectin reagent for direct supply to biomedical researchers.

17 Jun 2013

Discovery highlights new method to make HIV vaccine that targets the virus

A new discovery at Oregon Health & Science University highlights an ingenious method to ensure the body effectively reacts when infected with the highly evasive HIV virus that causes AIDS.

26 May 2013

State highlights: Blue Shield could lose exclusive contract for Calif. workers, retirees; Texas health commission asks for increase in Medicaid premiums

Blue Shield of California may be losing its longtime grip on one of the health care industry's most coveted insurance contracts. Officials at the California Public Employees' Retirement System are recommending breaking up Blue Shield's current statewide HMO contract and replacing it with as many as four health plans for more than 400,000 public workers and their families (Terhune, 4/11).

12 Apr 2013

Research: HIV women infected with HPV are not protected by current vaccines

Women with HIV acquire cancer-causing forms of the human papillomavirus (HPV) that are not included in the current HPV vaccines Gardasil and Cervarix, according to new research from Fox Chase Cancer Center being presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 on Sunday, April 7.

8 Apr 2013

Small percentage of adults who receive rapid HIV treatment following infection might achieve 'functional cure,' French researchers say

"Rapid treatment after HIV infection may be enough to 'functionally cure' about a 10th of those diagnosed early, say researchers in France," who "have been analyzing 14 people who stopped therapy, but have since shown no signs of the virus resurging," BBC News reports (Gallagher, 3/15).

16 Mar 2013

Macrophages allow entry of HIV in the urethra

Having suggested in 2011 that the urethra is a novel entry site for HIV, a team from the Institut Cochin, has now confirmed this hypothesis and identified the cells and mechanisms brought into play: the immune system cells macrophages, present in the epithelium of the urethra, allow the entry of HIV. This work, published online on the website of the journal Mucosal Immunology, could make it possible to test novel HIV/AIDS prevention strategies.

1 Mar 2013

Boston College biologist receives $2.7M NIH grant to continue HIV and AIDS research

Boston College biologist Ken Williams, whose research focuses on the role of immunological cells in a range of illnesses that strike people living with HIV and AIDS, has been awarded a five-year, $2.7 million grant from the NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

12 Feb 2013

Studies suggest a new approach to treating HIV

A team of researchers based at Johns Hopkins has decoded a system that makes certain types of immune cells impervious to HIV infection.

22 Jan 2013

Early treatment during primary HIV infection shows promise

Two papers in The New England Journal of Medicine suggest that starting antiretroviral treatment early after HIV infection is diagnosed may improve patients’ immune response, boosting the initial recovery of the immune system and delaying progression of the disease.

21 Jan 2013

Crofelemer receives FDA approval for treatment of HIV associated diarrhea

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration has provided Marketing approval to its partner in US, Salix Pharmaceuticals Limited, for Crofelemer 125 mg delayed-release tablets for the symptomatic relief of non-infectious diarrhea in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/ acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) on anti-retroviral therapy (ART).

2 Jan 2013

West African human population genomes provide important clues about evolution of HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) may have affected humans for much longer than is currently believed. Alfred Roca, an assistant professor in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois, thinks that the genomes of an isolated West African human population provide important clues about how the disease has evolved.

20 Dec 2012

In order to end AIDS, reduce stigma of marginalized groups and accelerate HIV cure research

"'Getting to Zero' has been the slogan for World AIDS Day (Dec. 1) since 2011 and will remain so through until 2015, coinciding with the Millennium Development Goal target of halting and beginning to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS," Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, director of the Regulation of Retroviral Infections Unit at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, and Adeeba Kamarulzaman, director of the Center of Excellence for Research in AIDS and dean of the Faculty of Medicine at University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, write in a New York Times opinion piece.

21 Nov 2012

GigaScience announces publication of whole-genome sequencing and analysis of Wuzhishan Pig

The international open-access journal GigaScience announces the publication of the whole-genome sequencing and analysis of the Wuzhishan Pig, an extensively inbred, miniature pig, which can serve as an excellent model for human medical research.

16 Nov 2012

Scientists develop new prototype ultra sensitive disease sensor

Scientists have developed a prototype ultra-sensitive sensor that would enable doctors to detect the early stages of diseases and viruses with the naked eye, according to research published today in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

29 Oct 2012

Researcher uncovers mechanisms involved in prognosis of acute myeloid leukemia

When patients suffering from Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) express high levels of the gene, MN1, an already aggressive leukemia is accelerated and shortens survival time. While that's a known fact, the mechanisms involved aren't well understood which is why a Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center researcher decided to take a closer look.

16 Oct 2012

CytoDyn announces update on feline immunodeficiency virus therapeutic antibody program

CytoDyn Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the development of new therapies for combating infection with immune deficiency viruses, announced today that it is presenting an update on its Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) therapeutic antibody program at the 19th West Coast Retrovirus meeting in Palm Springs, California.

8 Oct 2012

Efavirenz drug may play a key role in brain damage

The way the body metabolizes a commonly prescribed anti-retroviral drug that is used long term by patients infected with HIV may contribute to cognitive impairment by damaging nerve cells, a new Johns Hopkins research suggests.

28 Sep 2012