Cleveland researchers receive $3M towards HIV/AIDS studies

Two Cleveland doctors at the forefront of HIV and autoimmune disease research have been awarded a three-year, $3 million grant from the Richard J. Fasenmyer Foundation.

Immunologists Leonard Calabrese and Michael Lederman have been studying links between autoimmune, inflammatory diseases and HIV/AIDS for the past 30 years.

The pair began the Cleveland HIV Immunity Project and will utilize the grant funding in three specific areas of the project. The first is a clinical study that started in 2009 called Cleveland Immune Failure. The study is aimed at understanding why the immune systems in HIV patients who have been fully treated are never restored.

The second area of the project will examine why some people who come into contact with HIV never acquire the virus.

The third will investigate immune system responses to remedies that treat symptoms of inflammatory diseases and also compare findings among research for HIV and other autoimmune diseases.

In light of advancements in all fields of HIV studies, any individual who suspects they may have HIV or a sexually transmitted disease can consider online testing services.