Objective
There is an urgent need to develop effective prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines to combat the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS pandemic, currently responsible for ~2 million deaths/year worldwide. The challenges encountered in developing vaccines to elicit broadly-neutralizing antibodies capable of blocking infection with diverse HIV strains, together with the wealth of evidence showing the importance of HIV-specific CD8 T cells in control of virus replication, have prompted efforts to develop T cell-inducing vaccines to combat HIV. However rational vaccine design is hampered by the current lack of understanding of features of an optimally-protective HIV-specific T cell response. HIV’s ability to evade T cell control by mutating to escape from T cell recognition suggests that it may be critical for vaccines to elicit broad T cell responses to limit viral escape. However T cell escape mutations can have fitness costs that may offset the effects of escape; furthermore transmission of unfit virus could lead to reduced viral replication in the recipient. We propose to perform an in-depth prospective analysis of viral interactions with the host CD8 T cell response in acute HIV infection to determine the importance of i. the fitness of the transmitted virus ii. the extent and kinetics of viral escape from the earliest CD8 T cell responses and iii. the viral fitness cost incurred in escaping from these early responses, in determining the prognostically-important set-point persisting viral load. This unique analysis of virus-host interplay will be made possible by the expertise in state-of-the-art molecular virological techniques that the fellowship applicant will bring to complement the host laboratory’s immunological expertise. Results from this study will give insight into whether vaccines should aim to induce CD8 T cell responses from which there is limited escape and/or induce responses that drive selection for escape mutations that reduce viral fitness.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology virology
- medical and health sciences health sciences infectious diseases RNA viruses HIV
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs vaccines
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics mutation
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IIF
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
OX1 2JD Oxford
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.