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HIV Research Activities

Content From: HIV.gov•Updated: September 19, 2018•5 min read

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Supporting Research to Effectively Prevent, Diagnose, and Treat HIV

In the three decades since the first cases of AIDS were reported, Federal investments in basic, biomedical, behavioral, and social science research have led to numerous HIV prevention interventions and life-saving treatments. Several federal agencies conduct or support HIV research activities.

Leading the Way in HIV Research

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is the Nation’s primary medical research agency, making important discoveries that improve health and save lives. NIH conducts and supports a comprehensive program of basic, behavioral, clinical, and translational research on HIV/AIDS and its associated coinfections, comorbidities, and other complications. Since HIV crosses nearly every area of medicine and scientific investigation, the response to the HIV pandemic requires a multi-Institute, multidisciplinary, global research program. At NIH, this research is coordinated by the Office of AIDS Research (OAR) and carried out by nearly all the NIH Institutes and Centers, in both at NIH and at NIH-funded institutions worldwide. The NIH HIV/AIDS Research Program represents the world’s largest public investment in AIDS research.

Within NIH, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) manages the largest portfolio of HIV/AIDS research activities. NIAID-supported investigators have made groundbreaking scientific discoveries that have led to significant progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Among these discoveries, NIAID-supported research has demonstrated that people living with HIV who take antiretroviral medications daily as prescribed and who achieve and maintain an undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of sexually transmitting the virus to an HIV-negative partner.

The NIAID-supported HPTN 052 study, which involved more than 1,600 heterosexual couples over 10 years, found that starting and sustaining treatment for HIV infection early, when the immune system is relatively healthy, essentially eliminated the transmission of HIV. No HIV transmission was observed when antiretroviral therapy consistently, durably suppressed the virus in the partner living with HIV. While some transmission events did occur in the study, new infections resulted when the partner living with HIV was not fully virally suppressed due to either having just started antiretroviral therapy, or for whom treatment no longer was working and the virus was replicating. The study also showed that early treatment initiation improved health outcomes for people living with HIV.

The HPTN 052 results, along with those of another NIAID-funded trial (the START study), which showed that those living with HIV who received early treatment significantly reduced their risk of illness and death, helped influence the World Health Organization in 2015 to recommend that everyone living with HIV should begin treatment upon diagnosis.

Seeking a Cure for HIV

NIAID also invests in basic and clinical research with the goal of developing a safe, affordable and scalable cure for HIV and AIDS. NIAID’s research efforts include studies to identify the precise locations where HIV hides in the body (known as viral reservoirs), determine how those reservoirs are established and maintained, and develop strategies to minimize or deplete them. An HIV cure in the classic sense, meaning it removes all HIV from the body, would require eradication of viral reservoirs. Treatment-free remission, also known as a functional cure, would not eradicate reservoirs but would allow a person living with HIV to control the virus without daily medication.

Making Progress Toward an HIV Vaccine

Historically, vaccination has been the best method for protecting people from infectious diseases. While many HIV prevention techniques are available, the development of a safe and effective HIV vaccine remains key to realizing a durable end to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. NIAID and its global partners are pursuing numerous research strategies to develop next-generation vaccine candidates.

Developing Safe and Effective HIV Treatments

One of NIAID’s greatest success stories is that its research led to the development of numerous antiretroviral drugs to treat HIV/AIDS, turning what was once a uniformly fatal disease into a manageable chronic condition for many. NIAID is working to find new and more effective therapeutic products, drug classes, and combinations as well as safe and effective treatments for related co-infections and complications.

Research to Prevent HIV Infection and Transmission

NIAID also conducts and supports research to develop and improve cutting-edge tools and techniques that can work to prevent HIV in diverse populations around the world.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also provides national leadership for HIV prevention research, including the development of biomedical and behavioral interventions to prevent HIV transmission and reduce disease progression in the United States and internationally. CDC’s research efforts include identifying scientifically proven, cost-effective, and scalable interventions and prevention strategies to be implemented as part of a high-impact prevention approach for maximal impact on the HIV epidemic.

Advancing the National HIV Priorities through Research

The National HIV/AIDS Strategy: Updated to 2020 calls for numerous ongoing research efforts, including the prioritization and promotion of research to fill in gaps in prevention science among the highest risk populations and communities; the promotion and prioritization of research to fill in gaps in knowledge along the HIV care continuum; the scaling up of effective, evidence-based programs that address social determinants of health; support for research to better understand the scope of the intersection of HIV and violence against women and girls, as well as the development of effective interventions; and the strengthening of the timely availability and use of data. Across the Federal government, agencies and programs are engaged in these efforts.

Scroll down to read about the HIV research activities of individual Federal agencies and offices.

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Federal Activities & AgenciesActivities Combating HIV Stigma and Discrimination

Federal Agencies' Research Activities

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) produces evidence to make health care safer, higher quality, more accessible, equitable, and affordable, and works within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and with other partners to make sure that the evidence is understood and used to achieve the goals of better care, smarter spending of health care dollars, and healthier people.

AHRQ produces numerous research reports on public health, including the Congressionally-mandated National Healthcare Quality Report and the National Healthcare Disparities Report, which include sections on HIV/AIDS and its effective treatment.

Learn more about AHRQ.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, works 24/7 to protect America from health, safety, and security threats. CDC provides leadership in helping control the HIV/AIDS epidemic by working with community, state, national, and international partners in surveillance, research, and prevention and evaluation activities, as well as working to improve treatment and support for people living with HIV.

Within CDC, the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention leads its HIV/AIDS activities. The Center’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention (DHAP) is charged with the mission of preventing HIV infection and reducing the incidence of HIV-related illness and death in the U.S.

CDC provides national leadership for HIV prevention research, including the development and evaluation of HIV biomedical and behavioral interventions to prevent HIV transmission and reduce HIV disease progression in the United States and internationally. CDC’s research efforts also include identifying those scientifically proven, cost-effective, and scalable interventions and prevention strategies to be implemented as part of a high-impact prevention approach for maximal impact on the HIV epidemic.

Learn more about CDC’s HIV research efforts.

View CDC’s activities in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy Federal Action Plan.

The mission of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of our country. Within the DoD, the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP) is at the forefront of the battle against HIV to protect U.S. troops and reduce the global impact of the disease. Since its inception in 1986, MHRP has become a world leader in HIV vaccine research, threat assessment, epidemiology, HIV diagnostics, and cure research. The program works in six sites in Africa and Asia. While its primary focus is developing a globally effective vaccine, the program also provides prevention, care, and treatment in each of the communities in which research is conducted through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). MHRP is centered at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), a command within the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command.

Learn more about the MHRP.

View DoD’s activities in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy Federal Action Plan.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products, and medical devices. FDA is also responsible for the safety and security of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.
FDA's broad based, multi-disciplinary research programs have played a significant role in the development of vaccines, therapeutic agents, and test kits for use in HIV/AIDS and HIV-related conditions. This research includes work on HIV infection and vaccine models for its prevention, and studies of the immune response to HIV, as well as conducting, planning, or consulting on epidemiology studies of the role devices or radiation play in the transmission, prevention, detection, or treatment of HIV infection and closely associated conditions.

FDA also plays a role in overseeing cure research for HIV, ensuring that risks are out of proportion to the potential benefits, and that patients who are willing to enter into HIV clinical trials are aware of the potential risks that may be associated with different approaches, particularly for patients who are on stable, effective drug therapies.

Learn more about FDA’s role in HIV/AIDS.

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) produces evidence to make health care safer, higher quality, more accessible, equitable, and affordable, and works within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and with other partners to make sure that the evidence is understood and used to achieve the goals of better care, smarter spending of health care dollars, and healthier people.

AHRQ produces numerous research reports on public health, including the Congressionally-mandated National Healthcare Quality Report and the National Healthcare Disparities Report, which include sections on HIV/AIDS and its effective treatment.

Learn more about AHRQ.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, works 24/7 to protect America from health, safety, and security threats. CDC provides leadership in helping control the HIV/AIDS epidemic by working with community, state, national, and international partners in surveillance, research, and prevention and evaluation activities, as well as working to improve treatment and support for people living with HIV.

Within CDC, the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention leads its HIV/AIDS activities. The Center’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention (DHAP) is charged with the mission of preventing HIV infection and reducing the incidence of HIV-related illness and death in the U.S.

CDC provides national leadership for HIV prevention research, including the development and evaluation of HIV biomedical and behavioral interventions to prevent HIV transmission and reduce HIV disease progression in the United States and internationally. CDC’s research efforts also include identifying those scientifically proven, cost-effective, and scalable interventions and prevention strategies to be implemented as part of a high-impact prevention approach for maximal impact on the HIV epidemic.

Learn more about CDC’s HIV research efforts.

View CDC’s activities in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy Federal Action Plan.

Department of Defense

The mission of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of our country. Within the DoD, the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP) is at the forefront of the battle against HIV to protect U.S. troops and reduce the global impact of the disease. Since its inception in 1986, MHRP has become a world leader in HIV vaccine research, threat assessment, epidemiology, HIV diagnostics, and cure research. The program works in six sites in Africa and Asia. While its primary focus is developing a globally effective vaccine, the program also provides prevention, care, and treatment in each of the communities in which research is conducted through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). MHRP is centered at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), a command within the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command.

Learn more about the MHRP.

View DoD’s activities in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy Federal Action Plan.

Food and Drug Administration

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products, and medical devices. FDA is also responsible for the safety and security of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.
FDA's broad based, multi-disciplinary research programs have played a significant role in the development of vaccines, therapeutic agents, and test kits for use in HIV/AIDS and HIV-related conditions. This research includes work on HIV infection and vaccine models for its prevention, and studies of the immune response to HIV, as well as conducting, planning, or consulting on epidemiology studies of the role devices or radiation play in the transmission, prevention, detection, or treatment of HIV infection and closely associated conditions.

FDA also plays a role in overseeing cure research for HIV, ensuring that risks are out of proportion to the potential benefits, and that patients who are willing to enter into HIV clinical trials are aware of the potential risks that may be associated with different approaches, particularly for patients who are on stable, effective drug therapies.

Learn more about FDA’s role in HIV/AIDS.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation’s medical research agency—making important medical discoveries that improve health and save lives. NIH-funded scientists investigate ways to prevent disease and conduct research on both common and rare diseases to discover their causes, develop effective treatments, and find cures. NIH represents the largest and most significant public investment in HIV/AIDS research in the world. Almost all of the 27 NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs) conduct and support basic, clinical, behavioral, social science, and translational research that addresses the prevention and treatment of HIV disease and its associated coinfections, comorbidities, and other complications.

NIH’s Office of AIDS Research (OAR) coordinates the scientific, budgetary, legislative, and policy elements of the trans-NIH HIV/AIDS-related research programs. OAR, a component of the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives in the Office of the NIH Director, supports the development of up-to-date HHS guidelines for the treatment of HIV infection, and the prevention and treatment of HIV-associated opportunistic infections. The guidelines are developed and regularly updated by working groups of HIV experts from across the country, including physicians, other health care clinical providers, pharmacists, researchers, and HIV treatment advocates. These clinical guidelines outline the current science and recommendations for treatment of HIV disease (e.g., antiretroviral therapy, treatment, and prophylaxis for opportunistic infections) as well as guidelines for conducting HIV testing and counseling.

Within NIH, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) leads research to understand, treat, and prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Through laboratories and clinics on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland, and a vast network of supported research at universities, medical centers, and clinical trial sites around the globe, NIAID is working to better understand HIV and how it causes disease, find new tools to prevent HIV infection including a preventive vaccine, develop new and more effective treatments for people with HIV, and hopefully, find a cure.

In addition to NIAID, NIH is made up of 26 other Institutes and Centers. Each has its own specific research agenda, often focusing on particular diseases or body systems, and most address HIV/AIDS in some way, according to their particular area of expertise.

Learn more about NIH’s HIV/AIDS Research Program.

Learn more about NIH’s role in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy Federal Action Plan.

National Institutes of Health

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation’s medical research agency—making important medical discoveries that improve health and save lives. NIH-funded scientists investigate ways to prevent disease and conduct research on both common and rare diseases to discover their causes, develop effective treatments, and find cures. NIH represents the largest and most significant public investment in HIV/AIDS research in the world. Almost all of the 27 NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs) conduct and support basic, clinical, behavioral, social science, and translational research that addresses the prevention and treatment of HIV disease and its associated coinfections, comorbidities, and other complications.

NIH’s Office of AIDS Research (OAR) coordinates the scientific, budgetary, legislative, and policy elements of the trans-NIH HIV/AIDS-related research programs. OAR, a component of the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives in the Office of the NIH Director, supports the development of up-to-date HHS guidelines for the treatment of HIV infection, and the prevention and treatment of HIV-associated opportunistic infections. The guidelines are developed and regularly updated by working groups of HIV experts from across the country, including physicians, other health care clinical providers, pharmacists, researchers, and HIV treatment advocates. These clinical guidelines outline the current science and recommendations for treatment of HIV disease (e.g., antiretroviral therapy, treatment, and prophylaxis for opportunistic infections) as well as guidelines for conducting HIV testing and counseling.

Within NIH, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) leads research to understand, treat, and prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Through laboratories and clinics on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland, and a vast network of supported research at universities, medical centers, and clinical trial sites around the globe, NIAID is working to better understand HIV and how it causes disease, find new tools to prevent HIV infection including a preventive vaccine, develop new and more effective treatments for people with HIV, and hopefully, find a cure.

In addition to NIAID, NIH is made up of 26 other Institutes and Centers. Each has its own specific research agenda, often focusing on particular diseases or body systems, and most address HIV/AIDS in some way, according to their particular area of expertise.

Learn more about NIH’s HIV/AIDS Research Program.

Learn more about NIH’s role in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy Federal Action Plan.