A grant of more than £1m has been given to a HIV research project involving Oxford scientists.

The cash from the Wellcome Trust will be used to find ways in which the immune system can be bolstered so it can fight the virus.

The results could lead to the development of vaccines or drug therapies to prolong the lives of HIV sufferers.

The five-year programme will be carried out by immunologists led by Professor Rodney Phillips, Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine at Oxford University. They will work in collaboration with a clinical team led by Professor Jonathan Weber at St Mary's Hospital, London, part of the Imperial College School of Medicine.

Prof Phillips's group has been awarded £829,784 and Professor Weber's team given £213,059 for the study. The new research will examine the early immune response to HIV. It is thought the virus produces genetic variants which undermine the immune response. The research will also look at the use of drugs and when and how therapy should be initiated.

Prof Phillips said: "Potent drug therapy of HIV infection has altered the disease and prolonged life, but the infection is not eradicated by this therapy.

"This new Wellcome Trust programme will allow us to look at the novel immunological landscape created by drug therapy."

Story date: Thursday 18 November

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