Therapeutics/Drugs

Gorica Rakleova of Sofia University in Bulgaria proposes to identify and create a library of HIV-1 integrase variants that are capable of removing virus sequences from infected cell genomes. If successful, these variants could be used as new HIV therapies.

Christof von Kalle of Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum/NCT in Germany will study the genomic location and clonal structure of HIV integration sites in host cells. Finding and eliminating these cells could make antiretroviral therapies more effective and increase the survival of infected individuals.

Linos Vandekerckhove of the University Hospital Ghent in Belgium proposes to analyze biomarkers and mRNA transcripts to discover well-defined biomarkers that can be used to assess the extent of the latent HIV reservoir in patients with an undetectable viral load.

Bent Jakobsen of Immunocore Ltd. in the United Kingdom, collaborating with Cardiff and Oxford Universities, will test whether a novel biologic therapy, engineered from immune cells, can clear virus from latently-infected HIV cells. If successful, the HIV-infected patients could control the disease without retroviral drugs.

Alessandro Ripalti of Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna S.Orsola-Malpighi in Italy will attempt to produce an engineered HIV integrase, an enzyme produced by the virus to integrate itself into host chromosomes, and test its ability to instead cut the virus' DNA at its integration sites in the human genome.

Christoph Grevelding of Justus-Liebig-University in Germany will test the effectiveness of Imatinib, a cancer drug which inhibits kinase activity and cellular changes in cells, to impair and kill parasitic worms which carry Schistosomiasis. If successful, Imatinib could serve as a new drug therapy to fight this chronic disease which affects millions in developing countries.

Carl Lowenberger of Simon Fraser University in Canada proposes to develop novel antibiotics by combining regions of insect antibacterial peptides in abnormal conformations that will increase the types of organisms they will control and reduce the drug concentration required to kill existing and drug resistant bacteria.

Adam Renslo of University of California San Francisco in the U.S. will develop a new drug delivery technology that exploits the high ferrous iron concentrations in malaria parasites. If successful, this technology would allow delivery of existing and new therapeutics with increased safety margins and reduced potential for the development of drug resistance.

Raffi Aroian of the University of California, San Diego in the U.S. proposes to develop a delivery system for non-toxic, anti-roundworm proteins. With this system, mass production of a safe, potent cure for intestinal Roundworms that is cheap and compatible with global distribution should be possible. This project's Phase I research demonstrated that an anthelmintic protein could be expressed in three food-grade bacterial strains safe for humans.

Ruth Connor of Symbiora Inc. in the U.S. will evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a low-cost oral solution derived from beneficial strains of human gut bacteria to prevent and treat acute diarrheal illness in infants.