Global health R&D at work in Wyoming
University of Wyoming (UW) researchers are conducting basic research to better understand how HIV-specific antibodies produce an immune response to infection. They are examining the structures of a category of proteins called glycoforms and how that structure impacts the ability of the antibodies to block transmission in mucosal tissue, the area where initial HIV infection mainly occurs. Their findings could inform efforts to develop vaccines and monoclonal antibody therapies. Since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, at least 40 million people have died of AIDS. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most severely affected, as the region is home to two-thirds of all people living with HIV globally.