About the CAVD
A preventative HIV vaccine has the potential to control the global AIDS epidemic and avert the suffering of millions of people. Roughly 6,000 people become infected with HIV each day, for a total of approximately 2.7 million new infections per year. Worldwide, an estimated 33 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, with 22 million of those individuals living in sub-Saharan Africa.
Despite over 20 years of HIV vaccine research, the scientific challenges have so far blocked the development of a preventative vaccine. As a result, HIV vaccine scientists, advocates, and funders are searching for innovative approaches to vaccine research and development. One such approach emphasizes collaboration and concentration of effort by a worldwide network of researchers dedicated to accelerating the pace of HIV vaccine research.
The CAVD provides funding for a range of innovative strategies aimed at designing an effective HIV vaccine. The program is designed to foster collaboration among researchers to speed up the communication of results and the sharing of ideas. In addition to focusing on fundamental HIV research, the funded projects emphasize translational research, bridging the gap between basic discovery and product development.
The CAVD approach is based on the principle that HIV vaccine development will progress most rapidly and has the highest chance of success if the individual initiatives are complemented by a collaborative effort. Small teams of independent researchers conduct much of today’s scientific work, and their findings form the basis for numerous innovations. However, independent efforts have thus far failed to produce a preventative vaccine, and a consensus has emerged among researchers, advocates, and funders that large-scale projects featuring collaboration and concentration of efforts could accelerate the pace of HIV vaccine research.
The CAVD fosters a spirit of open communication and sharing not only of data but also of methods, reagents, and specimens in a collegial network of research consortia and central service facilities.
The program seeks a balance between productive competition and collaboration. The grantees use standardized tools and common preclinical and clinical platforms that permit the evaluation and sharing of results, while preserving the independent research crucial to innovation.
See About the CAVD Structure…
Former CAVD Collaborators/Consortia