amfAR Unveils Launch Of HIV Cure Institute: We Plan To Have The Scientific Basis For The Cure By 2020

Big news today from amfAR. Via press release:

amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, today announced the establishment of the amfAR Institute for HIV Cure Research, an innovative collaborative enterprise based at UC San Francisco (UCSF). As the cornerstone of amfAR’s $100 million cure research investment strategy, the aim of the Institute will be to develop the scientific basis of a cure for HIV by the end of 2020.

The Institute will support teams of scientists working across the research continuum—from basic science to clinical studies—and will tap into UCSF’s extensive research network across the region. It will involve collaborations with the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology (GIVI) and Blood Systems Research Institute, as well as Oregon Health and Science University; University of California, Berkeley; Gilead Sciences; and the Infectious Disease Research Institute in Seattle, Washington.

“We intend to quicken the pace of cure research by supporting a collaborative community of leading HIV researchers in one cohesive enterprise,” said amfAR Chief Executive Officer Kevin Robert Frost. “The institute will allow them to conduct the science, share ideas, and test and evaluate new technologies and potential therapies in a state-of-the-art environment. And I can think of no better base for such an enterprise than the San Francisco Bay Area, the crucible of technological innovation in America.”

“Furthermore, establishing an institute dedicated to finding a cure for HIV in a city that was once considered ground zero of the AIDS epidemic brings full circle the outstanding work that UCSF’s researchers have been doing over the past 30 years,” added Frost.