Research Activities
NIAID supports a broad STI research portfolio, which addresses these diseases through individual investigator-initiated research grants, contracts, and a variety of research programs, including the following:
- The STD Cooperative Research Centers (CRCs), which bridge basic biomedical, clinical, behavioral, and epidemiologic research; promote productive collaborations among academic researchers; and facilitate the development of intervention-oriented research. This program, which is currently being recompeted, has been broadened to include topical microbicides.
- The STD Clinical Trials Unit, which conducts clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of biomedical and behavioral interventions aimed at the prevention and control of STIs.
- The Topical Microbicides Program, which conducts basic research, product development, and clinical evaluation activities aimed at developing female-controlled barrier methods for the prevention of HIV/AIDS and other STIs.
- The sequencing of the genomes of sexually transmitted pathogens, including Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and Haemophilus ducreyi.
- Support for databases of genomic and postgenomic information and analysis tools on sexually transmitted pathogens. This information has provided new insights into the pathogenesis of numerous STIs and is paving the way for new opportunities to develop diagnostics, drugs, vaccines, and microbicides.
- A pivotal Phase III double-blind clinical efficacy trial of an investigational vaccine for the prevention of genital herpes, which opened in November 2002 and will enroll 7,550 women at approximately 25 sites across the United States. This study, which is called the Herpevac Trial for Women, is being conducted as a public-private partnership with GlaxoSmithKline.
- The STD Prevention Primate Unit for preclinical evaluation of topical microbicides and vaccines at the University of Washington, which, over the past year, has evaluated several candidate microbicides for safety (effects on surface tissues and microenvironment of the cervix and vagina) in pig-tailed macaques. Results from this Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID) supported testing contract are being coordinated with testing conducted by the Division of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (DAIDS) to facilitate product development and safety and efficacy testing in clinical trials.
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