Tag Archives: HIV

Luring HIV out of its latency may be the secret to developing an effective HIV cure

Posted on April 19, 2012 by David Esteban

Contributed by guest blogger: Steven Chan ‘12
The emergence of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in the treatment of HIV-infected individuals has certainly changed the outlook of an HIV diagnosis today, compared to what such an outlook looked like in the … Continue reading →

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Posted in Antiviral Drugs, Epidemics, Immunology, Molecular Virology | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy and Tenofovir: Lowering HIV Viral Loads, Raising the Risk of Renal Failure

Posted on April 4, 2012 by David Esteban

Contributed by guest blogger: Michael McManus ‘12
People undergoing anti-retroviral therapies, which target and interrupt the replicative processes of HIV, are living longer due to the relative success of treatments. Those with HIV are using these drug cocktails for longer periods … Continue reading →

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Posted in Antiviral Drugs, Epidemics | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

HIV Microbicides and the Risks of Clinical Trials

Posted on March 28, 2012 by David Esteban

Contributed by guest blogger: Julia Ding ’12
Once preliminary studies suggest that a drug is safe for human use, clinical trials are conducted in order to further investigate the effects and possible adverse reactions of the drug. The example of HIV … Continue reading →

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Posted in Epidemics, Immunology | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

A possible new HIV vaccine target?

Posted on April 13, 2011 by David Esteban

Contributed by guest blogger: Lydia Mendoza ’11
In 2009, it was estimated that 33.3 million people in the world were living with HIV/AIDS. Since the discovery of HIV, more than two decades ago, money has poured into research in the hopes … Continue reading →

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Posted in Epidemics, Guest Blogger, Immunology, Vaccines | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

A different alphabet, a different treatment?

Posted on March 22, 2011 by David Esteban

Contributed by Guest Blogger: Sean Koerner ’11
It’s easy to think of viruses as alien or lifeless – after all, they can’t reproduce on their own, eat anything, or even move around without assistance. However, viruses have evolved to use the … Continue reading →

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Posted in Antiviral Drugs, Guest Blogger, Molecular Virology | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Using HIV to treat HCV

Posted on December 10, 2010 by David Esteban

Contributed by Guest Blogger: R. Trenchard ’14
Traditionally, the go-to method used to treat patients with hepatitis C virus has been to administer a combination of antiviral agents called pegylated interferon-a (PEG-IFN) and ribavirin. These agents combat the virus particles that … Continue reading →

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Posted in Guest Blogger | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Social Spread of HIV

Posted on December 9, 2010 by David Esteban

Contributed by Guest Blogger: T. McKinnon ’14
In the mid-1980’s, businesspeople were crossing the Tanzania/Uganda border, and caught a disease. This disease spread through all of Tanzania after 2 years, and this is the birth of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The question … Continue reading →

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Posted in Guest Blogger | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Creating Synthetic HIV Vaccines

Posted on December 8, 2010 by David Esteban

Contributed by Guest Blogger: A. Lee ’14
HIV is particularly virulent due to its specific attack of host immune cells and disruption of their normal function. The human body needs helper T-lymphocytes (HTL), which coordinate and activate other immune cells, and … Continue reading →

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Posted in Guest Blogger | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment