SPIRAL Project

The HIV epidemic has tremendous impact on global health. Antiretroviral therapy effectively suppresses HIV, but it does not eliminate infection. Consequently, people with HIV must commit to expensive, lifelong therapies; continuous monitoring; and they face drug toxicities and chronic immune activation. There is thus an urgent need to develop safe, affordable, and globally accessible curative strategies. Currently, we do not know what integrated interventions are needed to achieve durable HIV control. Additionally, we do not have a comprehensive understanding of contextual barriers, facilitators, and perspectives of stakeholders for implementation. In this interdisciplinary project, biomedical researchers, clinicians, social scientists, health economists, and communication specialists will work equitably with low- and middle-income countries and industry partners in the interests of an HIV cure for all. We will predominantly focus on women and men living in sub-Saharan Africa with HIV-1 subtype A, C, and D. A prospective approach comparing the HIV reservoir atlas of these subtypes in blood and tissue, as well as generation of models to identify and evaluate innovative combinatorial immune-based and genetic-therapies in different HIV reservoir contexts, will significantly close knowledge gaps and inform the design of more equitable cure interventions. We also provide health economic and population-level assessments of developed strategies and incorporate perspectives of unrepresented global stakeholders so that we can develop an ethical and equitable HIV cure. Our unique expertise is instrumental in achieving biomedical breakthroughs and gaining fundamental insights into biomedical, social, and economic challenges to succeed in developing and implementing an HIV cure for all.

Contact 
Anniek Tanja