HIV Vaccines

Dear Colleagues,

HIV remains a major health problem of global concern. According to estimates from the World Health Organization, over 34 million people are infected with HIV, with 7000 new infections occurring daily and 1.7 million people dying of HIV in 2011. Although current anti-retroviral therapy provides highly effective treatment, for every person starting ART two people are newly infected with 20 million more people predicted to acquire HIV by 2031, increasing potential treatment costs up to $35 billion a year. Thus successful provision of universal treatment access may be critically dependent on reducing the number of new infections. Although other biomedical interventions have an important role in reducing HIV incidence, vaccines still provide the best hope for changing the epidemic. 30 years on from the discovery of HIV, a single HIV vaccine trial has shown modest efficacy of short duration. However, great advances have been made in the discovery of broadly neutralizing antibodies together with the ontogeny of their development. This combined with recent animal model data showing profound control of viral replication by replicating vectors heralds a new era in HIV vaccine research. This special issue on “HIV Vaccines” will explore how recent science is changing the prospects for developing effective vaccines able to provide protection from acquisition and control of infection. The issue will highlight leading developments in the vaccine technology, including but not limited to, induction of neutralizing antibodies, improvements in epitope design, use of replicating and non-replicating vectors, subunit vaccines (proteins/peptides/scaffolds) and DNA. Novel mechanisms of enhancing vaccine efficacy are also welcome including research on adjuvants and biomarkers of protection against HIV. The special issue will be a mix of original research articles, and mini reviews. The main focus of this special issue is to present cutting edge research and recent developments in vaccines, which can prevent HIV acquisition and disease progression.

Prof. Dr. Robin Shattock
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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