The world is a few steps closer to a cure for HIV, a hopeful sign illuminated by two studies published Monday that feature the work of several Seattle researchers.
The papers, which appear in the journal Nature, present new evidence of long-term, potential treatments for the virus that causes AIDS. The work was published on World AIDS Day, an international event marked every year on the first of December, when people aim to raise awareness of the epidemic, salute ongoing efforts toward a cure and remember lives lost. This year is the first since 1988 the United States will not commemorate the day, per a U.S. State Department directive, The New York Times reported.
The studies bring together formidable teams of more than 40 scientists, clinicians, pharmacologists, statisticians and others from all over the world who have dedicated much of their careers to HIV research, including two researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and two from the University of Washington. The findings are cause for celebration, said Lillian Cohn, an immunologist and assistant professor at Fred Hutch.
At the same time, the country’s fading support of crucial HIV programs is hard to ignore, said Cohn, who studies how the immune system works to fight the virus.
“We’re in a very paradoxical moment in the world,” she said. “The science is at the best point it’s ever been.”
