Lemon: CAVD Alliance Management

OVERVIEW

As described on the Foundation’s website, 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. However, to be effective, this network requires ongoing maintenance and cultivation via various forms of communication. For example, developments concerning the CAVD research resources or special programs require managed communications to the entire membership. More targeted discussions are necessary for oversight of the stages in the sharing of results generated by the Vaccine Immune Monitoring Cores (VIMCs). Such functions have been conducted by the Alliance Manager since the inception of the CAVD, and this investment will provide continued support for this position, abetting the success of the CAVD by this critical facilitating role.

The purpose of this award is to provide support to the Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery in the following areas: Consortium Management, Scientific Coordination, and Communications. The Alliance Manager with overall responsibility for these activities will coordinate and communicate with the CAVD Principal Investigators (PIs), especially the co-chairs of the PI Council, Program Managers (PMs), the Central Service Facilities grantees (CSFs), as well as Foundation staff, particularly the Program Officer for this grant. The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) has a strong partnership with the Foundation in supporting the CAVD through the Vaccine Product Development Center, a partnership consonant with IAVI’s mission to facilitate the field and drive for a vaccine to prevent HIV. This grant extends this partnership by having IAVI furnish these Alliance Management services, with the intention to continue the great support provided to the CAVD previously. Other potential enhancements include sharing benchmarking data and further facilitating communication across the CSF’s, particularly to intensify the VxPDC’s already significant integration in the development activities of the CAVD.

This grant is led by Robert Lemon, Executive Director of the VxPDC (IAVI), and the current Alliance Manager is Robert Palermo. The award was made in August 2016 with an expected duration of 24 months.