|
Congratulations Dr. Frank Plummer!
|
The Alliance Coordinating Office would like to congratulate Distinguished Professor Francis A. Plummer on his receipt of the Wightman Award from the Gairdner Foundation of Canada. The Wightman Award recognizes outstanding leadership in medicine and medical science and is awarded to one Canadian each year.
Dr. Plummer graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1976 and completed the Internal Medicine program in Winnipeg before continuing into an Infectious Diseases fellowship. During his fellowship, he spent a year in Kenya where he become known as a researcher who worked efficiently with minimal resources. He was also able to gain the respect of Kenyans with his collegiality and ‘smarts’. During that year Dr. Plummer investigated the epidemiology of sexually transmitted infections and established several cohorts.
READ MORE
|
|
Join us for the ACO Annual CHVI R&D Alliance Meeting 2016!
Thursday - May 12, 2016 | 08:00 – 16:00
RBC Convention Centre (Winnipeg, MB)
Theme: HIV Vaccine Research and Development in Canada: How Vaccines Fit within the Prevention Landscape
|
|
This meeting is being held in conjunction with the 25th Annual Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research (CAHR 2016).
This event will provide a forum for HIV vaccine research and development stakeholders to identify and share their achievements, challenges and needs as part of Canada’s effort to develop a safe and effective HIV vaccine within a changing prevention landscape. Speakers include Nicole Bernard (McGill University), Ralph Pantophlet (Simon Fraser University), Kelly MacDonald (University of Manitoba), Yegor Voronin (Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise), Chil-Yong Kang (Western University), Michael McLean (Plantform), Peter Newman (University of Toronto) and Robert Reinhard (HIV Vaccine Advocate). Our keynote speaker is Dr. Mark A. Wainberg, head of the HIV/AIDS research axis, Lady Davis Institute and Director of the McGill University AIDS Centre.
Registration is encouraged as breakfast and lunch will be provided. Register online by May 3, 2016 and your name will be entered to win an ACO prize package. For more information, email aco@icid.com.
VIEW/DOWNLOAD POSTER
|
|
Vaccine Research Plenary
Friday – May 13, 2016 | 07:45 – 09:00
Theme: HIV Vaccines Maintaining the Momentum
|
|
Drs. Marc Oullette (CIHR Institute of Infection and Immunity), Jamie Mann (University of Western Ontario), and Gary Kobinger (Laval University) will be sharing their insights on vaccine research and development at CAHR 2016. The plenary will be held on May 13th as a special session to the conference, and will be moderated by Drs. Jonathan Angel from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and Michael Grant from Memorial University.
VIEW CAHR 2016 PROGRAM
|
|
3rd Annual Beyond the Professiorate: The Online Career Conference for PhDs
May 7 & 14, 2016 – 11:00 am EDT
Jennifer Polk (From PhD to Life) and Maren Wood (Lili Research Group)
Beyond the Professoriate is a virtual conference for PhDs in career transition. It launched in May 2014, and was a great success. The conference features two days of presentations from and discussion with PhDs, all working beyond the professoriate in a variety of jobs and careers. Beyond the Professiorate is brought to you by Jennifer Polk of From PhD to Life and Maren Wood from Lilli Research Group.
MORE INFORMATION
|
|
HIV Env Vaccine Manufacturing Workshop
September 15, 2016 – NIAID, 5601 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD, USA
Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise
Following up on the successful 2015 Env Manufacturing workshop organized by the National Institutes of Health, the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise will be hosting a workshop to review progress in HIV Env vaccine manufacturing. The workshop will focus in depth on a set of key challenges, review latest developments in the field, and cover relevant lessons learned from other fields. For more information, contact yvoronin@vaccineenterprise.org.
|
|
2nd International Workshop on Microbiome in HIV, Pathogenesis, Prevention and Treatment
November 17 & 18, 2016 – Bethesda, MD, USA
Virology Education
The understanding of the human microbiome continues to grow rapidly; however information on the role of HIV infection on changes in the microbiome is still limited. Whereas research in this area may be presented at major conferences, there is often limited time for in-depth discussion and debate among cross-disciplinary experts on new data and their implications. The aim of this workshop is to provide increased opportunities for discussion and exchange of knowledge following formal presentation of the latest research.
MORE INFORMATION
|
|
Paring Down HIV Env: Design and Crystal Structure of a Stabilized Inner Domain of HIV-1- gp120 Displaying a Major ADCC Target of the A32 Region.
Structure. 2016 Mar 31. pii: S0969-2126(16)00083-6. doi: 10.1016/j.str.2016.03.005. [Epub ahead of print]
Tolbert WD, Gohain N, Veillette M, Chapleau JP, et al.
Evidence supports a role of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) toward transitional epitopes in the first and second constant (C1-C2) regions of gp120 (A32-like epitopes) in preventing HIV-1 infection and in vaccine-induced protection. Here, we describe the first successful attempt at isolating the inner domain (ID) of gp120 as an independent molecule that encapsulates the A32-like region within a minimal structural unit of the HIV-1 Env.
READ MORE
HIV-1 broadly neutralizing antibody precursor B cells revealed by germline-targeting immunogen.
Science. 2016 Mar 25;351(6280):1458-63. doi: 10.1126/science.aad9195.
Jardine JG, Kulp DW, Havenar-Daughton C, Sarkar A, et al.
Induction of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) is a major HIV vaccine goal. Germline-targeting immunogens aim to initiate bnAb induction by activating bnAb germline precursor B cells. Critical unmet challenges are to determine whether bnAb precursor naïve B cells bind germline-targeting immunogens and occur at sufficient frequency in humans for reliable vaccine responses. Using deep mutational scanning and multitarget optimization, we developed a germline-targeting immunogen (eOD-GT8) for diverse VRC01-class bnAbs.
READ MORE
Functional advantage of educated KIR2DL(+) natural killer cells for anti-HIV-1-dependent activation.
Clin Exp Immunol. 2016 Apr;184(1):101-9. doi: 10.1111/cei.12752. Epub 2016 Feb 4.
Gooneratne SL, Center RJ, Kent SJ, Parsons MS.
Evidence from the RV144 HIV-1 vaccine trial implicates anti-HIV-1 antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) in vaccine-conferred protection from infection. Among effector cells that mediate ADCC are natural killer (NK) cells. The ability of NK cells to be activated in an antibody-dependent manner is reliant upon several factors. In general, NK cell-mediated antibody-dependent activation is most robust in terminally differentiated CD57(+) NK cells, as well as NK cells educated through ontological interactions between inhibitory killer immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) and their major histocompatibility complex class I [MHC-I or human leucocyte antigen (HLA-I)] ligands. With regard to anti-HIV-1 antibody-dependent NK cell activation, previous research has demonstrated that the epidemiologically relevant KIR3DL1/HLA-Bw4 receptor/ligand combination confers enhanced activation potential.
READ MORE
For more research articles, the ACO sends a weekly curated digest to all Alliance Virtual Community members. Register for the Alliance Virtual Community or learn more.
|
|
Funding Opportunities
Gilead HIV Cure
LOI SUBMISSION DEADLINE: May 1, 2016
FULL PROPOSAL SUBMISSION DEADLINE: October 1, 2016
Through the Corporate Grants program, Gilead intends to support the efforts of academic institutions, non-profit organizations and community groups engaged in activities related to suppressing or eliminating HIV without antiretroviral therapy.
MORE INFORMATION
2017 Networks of Centres of Excellence of Canada International Knowledge Translation Platforms (NCE-IKTP) initiative competition
LOI SUBMISSION DEADLINE: May 2, 2016
FULL APPLICATION DEADLINE: October 15, 2016
The NCE-IKTP is an initiative under the NCE suite of programs. The goal of the NCE-IKTP initiative is to support international collaborations between networks, centres, consortia and their partners to accelerate knowledge translation in areas of mutual strategic interest. Note that collaborations are expected to be beyond the individual (i.e. researcher-to-researcher) level.
MORE INFORMATION
Team Grant: Multi Omics for the Immune System
APPLICATION DEADLINE: May 10, 2016
This Funding Opportunity is to support a Canadian research component on the European Commission's Multiomics for personalised therapies addressing diseases of the immune system; part of the Horizon 2020 2016-2017 Societal Challenge for Health, Demographic Change and Well-being.
MORE INFORMATION
National Institutes of Health (NIH): Human Tissue Models for Infectious Diseases
LOI DEADLINE: June 6, 2016
APPLICATION DEADLINE: July 6, 2016 by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization
The purpose of this FOA is to establish multidisciplinary research Centers that focus on the development of novel, in vitro human tissue model systems that can advance understanding of infectious diseases through overcoming longstanding obstacles that inhibit basic and translational research. Each Center will include investigators with appropriate expertise in infectious diseases, human tissue engineering, and the human microbiome, where relevant, to develop innovative models that recapitulate pathophysiology and host response, and provide relevant predictive outcomes for human diseases.
MORE INFORMATION
National Institutes of Health (NIH): Advancing HIV Therapeutic Vaccine Science
LOI DEADLINE: June 28, 2016
APPLICATION DEADLINE: July 28, 2016 by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) solicits applications that will advance understanding of vaccine regimens and immune responses that sustainably suppress viral loads in HIV-infected individuals. Applications should propose small, multi-arm, comparative clinical trials designed to identify correlations between levels of induced immune response and HIV virologic control. Vaccines may be combined with adjuvants and/or other modifiers of the immune response to HIV.
MORE INFORMATION
More Funding Resources
|
|
|
|
Conferences
|
|
May 3 to 6, 2016
10th International Workshop on HIV Treatment, Pathogenesis and Prevention Research in Resource-Limited Settings (INTEREST Workshop 2016)
Cameroon, Africa
|
|
May 12 to 15 2016
CAHR 2016
Winnipeg, Canada
|
|
June 12 to 15, 2016
66th Annual Conference of the Canadian Society of Microbiologists
Toronto, ON
|
|
July 18 to 22, 2016
AIDS 2016
Durban, South Africa
|
|
October 17 to 20, 2016
HIV Research for Prevention
Chicago, USA
|
|
December 6 to 8, 2016
12th Canadian Immunization Conference (CIC 2016)
Ottawa, ON
|
|
|
| |
You are receiving this email because you registered to receive news updates from the ACO
or you are a member of a
CHVI-funded
project team.
|
|
Annual Update
|
|
|
The Annual Report offers highlights of ACO activities over the past fiscal year.
Read our 2014-2015 Annual Update.
|
White Paper
|
The ACO has developed a White Paper to foster effective coordination of key players across the Canadian HIV vaccine research landscape.
|
|
|
About Us
|
|
The ACO was established by the Government of Canada and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in November 2011 at the International Centre for Infectious Diseases (ICID), a
not-for-profit,
non-governmental organization based in Winnipeg.
|
|
|
Address
|
|
ACO at
International Centre for Infectious Diseases
515 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg, MB, Canada
R3B 2E9
Tel.: 204 946 0908
Fax: 204 946 0927
email:
aco@icid.com
|
|
| |
|
Follow Us:
|
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
