| Dr. Montefiori is a Research Professor in the Department of Surgery, Duke University
Medical Center. His major research interests are viral immunology and AIDS vaccine development, with a special
emphasis on neutralizing antibodies and the complement system. His laboratory works extensively with human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), two related lentiviruses that cause AIDS
in humans and macaques, respectively. Recent studies have, in addition, emphasized the genetically engineered
simian-human immunodeficiency viruses (SHIV). Experimental SIV and SHIV infections in macaques are models of
HIV infection in humans and provide a means to extract the immunologic correlates of protective immunity in
preclinical stages of AIDS vaccine development. One of our highest priorities is to identify an immunogen t
hat will achieve broadly cross-reactive neutralizing antibody induction against most genetic variants of the virus.
They are exploring a variety of recombinant vectors, proteins and peptides in combination with new adjuvants and
delivery systems to accomplish this goal.
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Dr. Montefiori is part of the Central Laboratory for the HIV Vaccine Trials Network
(HVTN) that supports human clinical trials. He also maintains an NIH-sponsored Central Laboratory for AIDS Vaccine
Research and Development in Nonhuman Primate Models.
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