University of Alabama-Birmingham receives grant for immune system research

Researchers at the University of Alabama-Birmingham have received a five-year $5.8 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for continuing studies on ways to enhance the body's immune system to fight HIV in people already infected with the virus. "Studies show that patients treated aggressively in the early stages of infection may suffer fewer immune system deficits than those treated after long-term infection," said researcher Michael Kilby. "Because we have been able to suppress the disease successfully and boost the immune system with antiviral therapies, attention is now being turned to strategies that will further improve the immune system and perhaps limit the lifelong dependence on antiviral therapies in this setting of improved outcomes." Federal grants for similar research also were given to researchers at the University of California, San Francisco; the University of California, San Diego; Harvard University; and the New York City-based Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center.