AIDS Research and Therapy

Featured collection: HIV vaccine development in Canada

Prompted by the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative (CHVI) Research and Development Alliance Coordinating Office (ACO) meeting in 2016, this collection highlights the contribution of Canadian scientists to the goal of developing an effective HIV vaccine. 

The authors in this issue provide outstanding and clear opinions/reviews on key topics related to understanding the underlying factors for vaccine design, vaccine delivery strategies, adjuvants, and other prevention measures, as well as therapeutic vaccines.

Dr Eric Arts

Eric J Arts is Chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Western University in London, Canada. His research for the past 16 years described in over 120 publications has focused on HIV-1 fitness, evolution, and virulence in regards to transmission, disease progression, immune escape, drug resistance, and global HIV spread.

Since 1998, he has directed the research laboratories at the Joint Clinical Research Centre, Kampala, Uganda and has collaborated with investigators in Zimbabwe, China, Cameroon, Belgium, UK, France, Brazil, and Argentina. His research has been supported by grants from the NIH (NIAID, NICHD, and NHLBI), from the State of Ohio, Merck, and amfAR. He has served as chair and member of the NIH and CIHR grant panel and has reviewed grants for the many governments around the world.

Dr Mark Boyd

Dr Mark Boyd is Professor and Chair of Medicine at the University of Adelaide based at the Lyell McEwin Hospital. He is the current President of the Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM).

Dr Boyd has published the SECOND-LINE and Encore1 studies, the results of which have been incorporated into the most recent (2016) WHO integrated guidelines for the management of HIV-infection.

In 2014, Dr Boyd was awarded the prestigious Frank Fenner Prize for Advanced Research in Infectious Diseases by the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases (ASID). Dr Boyd has attracted over 20 million AUD in research funding from government, industry and non-government organisational sources. He collaborates with colleagues in HIV clinical research worldwide, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.