HIV controllers comprise a small minority of all HIV infected individuals; therefore the success of the International HIV Controllers Study depends on the establishment of working collaborations in the US and abroad with academic institutions, scientists, healthcare providers and community HIV organizations. These collaborations allow the identification and recruitment of individuals who meet eligibility criteria across the world, as well as individuals with chronic progressive HIV related disease to be used as comparison groups for human genetics studies.
The International HIV Controllers Study is funded primarily through a gift from the Mark and Lisa Schwartz Foundation, given in July 2006. The initial work that led to the establishment of the International HIV Controllers Study was funded through a variety of sources, including the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the National Institutes of Health and the Center for AIDS Research at Harvard Medical School. In November 2007, the study received a grant as part of the Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery with (partial) support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to expand upon the research currently underway. As of February 2009, the study is receiving additional support from Terry and Susan Ragon who have provided the funding to establish The Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard.
Progress
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The first two phases of the genome wide association study including 1000 HIV controllers were completed in Fall 2008. Data analysis is currently underway
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More than 1400 subjects were enrolled as of March 2009
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International collaborations have been established in Germany, United Kingdom, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Portugal and Italy
Leveraged Programs
The International HIV Controllers Study has enabled HIV researchers investigating a variety of areas of HIV pathogenesis and immunology to increase the breadth of their research by including HIV controllers. Click here to see a listing of collaborators who have benefited from this cohort.