Our Science – ACVP Website

AIDS and Cancer Virus Program

Research

ACVP PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The AIDS and Cancer Virus Program (ACVP, formerly the AIDS Vaccine Program) consists of both investigator-initiated research and support laboratories. The research portion of the ACVP is now comprised of the laboratories of six Principal Investigators (PIs) each pursuing independent, yet related, multidisciplinary research programs in basic or applied molecular virology, viral immunology or retroviral pathogenesis. The laboratories include: the Retroviral Mutagenesis Section, headed by Dr. Robert Gorelick; the Retroviral Assembly Section, headed by Dr. David Ott; the Retroviral Pathogenesis Section, headed by Dr. Jeffrey Lifson; the Retroviral Immunology Section, headed by Dr. Claes Ohlen; the Retroviral Vaccine Section, headed by Dr. Larry Arthur and the Viral Oncology Section, headed by Dr. Denise Whitby. The scientific staff of the ACVP encompasses expertise in a broad range of scientific disciplines and there is a strong tradition of collaboration between the PIs. The studies pursued by the laboratories have as a unifying feature their direct or potential relevance to the overall goal of developing an effective vaccine for the prevention of HIV infection and AIDS, and the study of viruses involved in AIDS or cancer. The Program helps to fulfill the mission of the NCI by continuing to contribute to the advancement of our understanding of HIV and AIDS, a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the US and around the world, and an important co-factor for AIDS associated malignancies. Through research on vaccine and other approaches for the prevention and treatment of HIV infection and AIDS, the ACVP also seeks to have a practical impact on this global problem. Finally, the ACVP seeks to add to the legacy of important contributions to AIDS research and viral oncology made by NCI scientists.

In addition to investigator initiated research conducted within the program, the ACVP also provides services or products to intramural and extramural investigators. The four ACVP cores include the Biological Products Core which prepares, characterizes and supplies biological reagents and immunological assays; the Quantitative Molecular Diagnostics Core which provides quantitative analysis of retroviral nucleic acids (including SIV “viral load�); the Retroviral Protein Chemistry Core which provides state-of-the-art preparation, purification and biochemical analysis of retrovirus preparations and related materials; and the Vaccine Support Core which handles accessioning, processing, cryopreservation, analysis, and data base tracking of specimens from studies of AIDS pathogenesis and vaccine evaluation in non-human primates.

This page was last updated on 9/26/2008.