Martin Delaney Collaboratories for HIV Cure Research (MDC)
In honor of AIDS activist Martin Delaney, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has sponsored a funding program designed to foster public- and private-sector collaboration in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
The Martin Delaney Collaboratories for HIV Cure Research is the flagship NIH program on HIV cure research. The purpose is to foster dynamic, multidisciplinary collaborations between basic, applied, and clinical researchers studying HIV persistence and developing potential curative strategies. This is accomplished by establishing partnerships across academia, industry, government, and community, with a goal of leveraging common resources to accelerate the pace of HIV cure research and engage the next generation of HIV cure researchers.
The program was launched in July 2011 with the funding of three Collaboratories: CARE, DARE, and defeatHIV. In July 2016, the program was expanded to include three additional Collaboratories (BELIEVE, BEAT-HIV, and I4C) for a total of six Collaboratories. In 2021, the program was further expanded to include a total of 10 Collaboratories (CARE, DARE, BEAT-HIV, I4C, REACH, ERASE-HIV, CRISPR for Cure, PAVE, RID-HIV, and HOPE), with one of them (PAVE) focused specifically on HIV cure research in infants and children. The combined program supports a network of approximately 300 Collaboratory members.
Main Areas of Focus
- Basic and clinical research to characterize persistent HIV reservoirs and to determine the mechanisms associated with viral latency, post-treatment control, and viral rebound
- Applied research to develop and test therapeutic strategies for eradicating or controlling residual virus using in vitro, ex vivo, and animal models
- Designing clinical trial protocols to test safety, tolerability, and initial proof-of-concept of curative therapies
- Community engagement to advance research literacy, set realistic expectations of success, and address potential concerns regarding acceptability, enrollment, safety, or ethics
To learn more about the NIAID’s HIV cure research, HIV cure-related Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs), concepts for future initiatives and funded grants, visit their HIV Cure Research website.
Martin Delaney
Activist, leader, public health hero. There are few people who have had a greater impact on HIV/AIDS health policies than Martin Delaney. From the time HIV was recognized as a public health threat in the early 1980s and leading up to his death in 2009, Delaney worked tirelessly as an educator and advocate for HIV/AIDS patients.
Delaney was internationally recognized for his work to change domestic health policy by expediting FDA review and approval of HIV/AIDS therapies. Successfully lobbying for a fast-track approval process, he played a key role in significantly reducing the time it takes for new and emerging drugs to reach the hands of patients. His efforts likely led to thousands of lives being saved.
He served on numerous public health policy groups including the NIAID AIDS Research Advisory Committee (1991-1995), NIAID’s National Advisory Allergy and Infectious Disease Council (1995-1998), Fair Pricing Coalition, Board of the Foundation for AIDS.
Delaney founded Project Inform in 1985 and served as its Director until 2008. Based in San Francisco, the organization continues to raise public awareness and lobby policy makers on HIV/AIDS issues.
Learn more about Martin Delaney and his founding organization, Project Inform.