The Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery
The Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery (CAVD) is an international network of scientists and experts dedicated to designing a variety of novel HIV vaccine candidates and advancing the most promising candidates to clinical trials.
The CAVD operates on the principle that accelerating progress toward an AIDS vaccine requires the creativity of individual investigators supported by a collaborative approach that emphasizes the sharing of scientific information and the standardization of laboratory techniques and data analysis.
A safe and effective preventative vaccine is the best way to halt the spread of HIV, which newly infects approximately 2.3 million people worldwide each year. Although existing treatment and prevention programs are working, they often don’t reach the poorest and most disenfranchised individuals.
The CAVD was launched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in July 2006 and now funds a total of 19 three to five year grants with $327 million. In total, the 19 grants support more than 400 investigators across 96 institutions in 21 countries. Two institutions funded through the foundation's Grand Challenges in Global Health (GCGH) program are also collaborating within the framework of the CAVD.
CAVD Goals
To accelerate HIV vaccine research and development by:
- Conducting collaborative research
- Designing novel candidate vaccines
- Improving and standardizing laboratory practices, data analysis, and preserving and sharing materials
- Introducing promising candidate vaccines to preclinical and clinical trials
Read more about the CAVD