HIV Research and Treatment

HIV is a retrovirus that dismantles the immune system by depleting CD4+ T cells, the very cells that coordinate the body's defenses, ultimately leaving individuals vulnerable to opportunistic infections that define AIDS. Decades of research have produced effective antiretroviral therapies that suppress the virus to undetectable levels, yet a cure remains elusive because HIV establishes latent reservoirs in long-lived cells that persist even under treatment. A central challenge is understanding how chronic immune activation damages tissues beyond the immune system itself, including the brain, where HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders affect a substantial share of people living with the virus. Researchers are actively pursuing broadly neutralizing antibodies and vaccine strategies capable of targeting the virus's rapidly mutating surface proteins, while also investigating ways to flush or permanently silence the hidden viral reservoir.

Works

140,684

Total citations

3,870,100

Keywords

HIVAIDSvaccineantibodiesimmune activationneurocognitive disorders