IMV receives AHC grant

HIV researchers in the SOD-based Institute for Molecular Virology (IMV) received a $200,000 AHC grant to test a new approach to HIV therapy that targets the high mutation rate of the virus. HIV’s ability to rapidly mutate has thwarted efforts to develop a therapeutic cure and vaccine. The team is testing a combination therapy, attempting to elevate the mutation rate and cause the virus to mutate itself to death (a concept called lethal mutagenesis or error catastrophe.) IMV Director Louis Mansky heads up the effort, in collaboration with SOD postdoctoral fellow Christine Clouser (Diagnostic and Biological Sciences), and AHC Center for Drug Design researchers Steven Patterson, Krzystof Pankiewiz, and Daune Crankshar. The award is the first granted through this competition to a SOD researcher.