Supporting the MGH research mission

Richard d'Aquila, MD, is addressing the problem of viral resistance to drugs used in combination therapy. Specific projects include understanding how resistance develops, determining whether the virus infecting a patient is resistant and using that information in planning treatment, and developing strategies to prevent or thwart resistance.

Martin Hirsch, MD, directs the MGH AIDS Clinical Trials Unit. New trials of promising experimental therapies are under way with the goal of effectively treating persons for whom the standard three-drug combination therapies are failing.

Spyros Kalams, MD, is testing the ability of possible HIV-1 vaccines to induce a protective immune response, one that would keep the virus from taking hold in the body. A clinical trial of a DNA-based vaccine is slated to begin in late 1998.

Andrew Luster, MD, PhD, is examining how chemokines — chemical signals produced by killer T cells  inhibit the activity of HIV. Chemokines, which control the activity of several immune cells involved in inflammation, communicate with cells through the same molecular receptor used by HIV to infect helper T cells.

David Scadden, MD, is conducting clinical trials of the first gene therapy approach to treating AIDS. Genes are inserted into killer T cells from individual patients to help the killer cells find and destroy HIV-infected cells, including those that usually survive antiviral treatment.