Category: HIV/AIDS and STIs

Chapel Hill, NC — A new comprehensive scoping review led by researchers at the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases finds definitions of “persistence” in HIV pre‑exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) research vary widely across studies, making it difficult to compare outcomes, evaluate interventions, and inform public health decision‑making. If...

T-cells are the immune system’s frontline defenders with a crucial role in controlling HIV. In a milestone clinical trial published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers with the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases (IGHID) at the UNC School of Medicine have demonstrated that new vaccines can...

Chapel Hill, NC – Less than half of people with HIV in the U.S. stay consistently connected to outpatient HIV care—a gap that limits access to lifesaving medications and increases the risk of HIV transmission. Hospitalizations are especially common among people who are already disconnected from care. Among the nearly...

A new study led by Guochun Jiang, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the UNC School of Medicine, and researcher with the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases and UNC HIV Cure Center, has found that a drug named citarinostat is effective at disrupting...

A systematic review led by Dorian Ho (UNC BSPH-2025), and Joseph Tucker, co-director of UNC Project-China and a member of the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, found that givers leveraged altruism, agency, and relationality with recipients to improve distribution and use of health services in their social...

Cindy Gay, MD, MPH, and David Margolis, MD, and the UNC HIV Cure Center have launched two ambitious studies that are poised to advance HIV Cure science closer to ending the epidemic. The first uses highly engineered antibody-like molecules to help the immune system find and clear HIV‑infected cells, uniting...

A trial led by Joe Eron, MD, a researcher with the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, marks a significant milestone toward what could become the first complete long‑acting HIV regimen requiring dosing only twice per year. This new report is considered the first Phase 2 study to...

Chapel Hill, N.C. — A Phase 2 study led by Dr. Joe Eron, a member of the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, shows an investigational once‑weekly, all‑oral combination of islatravir (ISL) and lenacapavir(LEN) maintains high levels of virologic suppression through 48 weeks in adults living with HIV....

Since 2008, new HIV diagnoses in the US have been reduced by about half; however, progress is not equally distributed. In 2022, only about 65% of people diagnosed with HIV in the US—and North Carolina—were virally suppressed, falling short of the national target of 95% viral suppression. Southern states, including...

Chapel Hill, NC – New research published in JAMA Network Open highlights a critical challenge facing people living with HIV as they re-enter the community after incarceration. A Zambia study led by Michael Herce, MD, MPH, MSCR, an investigator at the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases—in collaboration with colleagues...

Ciniso Shabangu shares how his scientific journey—from early hepatitis and cancer research in Taiwan to advanced NeuroHIV studies at the UNC HIV Cure Center—has shaped his commitment to understanding how viruses persist in the body. His work now focuses on uncovering how HIV hides in the brain and the technologies driving those discoveries. ...

In a commentary published by Nature Medicine, Dr. Myron Cohen and Dr. Joe Eron, leaders of the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, identify numerous medical advances originating from U.S. federally funded HIV research. They say the future of HIV research and the U.S.’s scientific leadership depends on...