Exploratory immunology in HIV infection and prevention
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploratory immunology in HIV infection and prevention
IRAS ID
248555
Contact name
Lucy Dorrell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Immunocore Ltd
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 3 days
Research summary
Nearly 37 million people are living with HIV infection. While nearly 60% are now accessing life-saving antiretroviral medication, this must be taken daily for life and does not provide a cure. The main barriers to developing a cure are: (1) long-lived reservoirs of cells containing HIV DNA within human chromosomes, and (2) the capacity of the virus to avoid detection and elimination by the immune system. My research team has investigated the impact on vaccine candidates and novel biological therapies on immune markers of virus control in clinical studies. Volunteers participating in these studies have provided blood samples with informed consent to future research on left-over samples. All of these samples are anonymised and are identifiable only with trial-specific identifiers. The objective of this study is use these samples to explore immune responses to HIV in new assays and to identify immune correlates of protection against disease or candidate biomarkers of cellular HIV reservoirs. Evaluation of immune responses in patients may require establishment of a 'normal' (reference) range using fresh or frozen blood samples from healthy volunteers, obtained either from commercial sources such as the NHS Blood Transfusion Service or from laboratory donors. Samples will be obtained from laboratory donors with written informed consent and will be de-identified.
REC name
South West - Frenchay Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/SW/0179
Date of REC Opinion
16 Oct 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion