[Press kit]

For more than a decade, AmFAR-funded research has been a major contributor to the world's
understanding of HIV/AIDS. In fact, some of the significant breakthroughs in the treatment of
HIV can be attributed, in part, to studies conducted by AmFAR grantees. The following
highlights and describes some of AmFAR's research accomplishments:
SIn 1986, AmFAR funded one of the fundamental studies of the HIV enzyme protease.
This study, conducted by Dr. Nancy Chang, played a seminal role in directing attention to
HIV protease as a new target for anti-HIV drugs. Subsequently, Dr. Chang's findings
contributed significantly to the knowledge base required for the recent development of
protease inhibitors. Drug combinations that include a protease inhibitor substantially
reduce viral load and decrease AIDS-related deaths in many people infected with HIV.
S More recently, an AmFAR-funded research team led by Dr. Nathaniel Landau was one of
the discoverers of CCR5, a co-receptor needed by HIV to enter and infect human cells.
This 1996 discovery, described by USA Today (June 20, 1996) as "the greatest leap in a
decade" of AIDS research, makes possible the development of drugs that block CCR5
and prevent HIV from causing infection and disease.
S Studies by AmFAR grantees contributed to the development of a more effective treatment
for the opportunistic infection cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis. CMV retinitis affects
many HIV-positive patients and can lead to blindness. Articles published in Science and
The New York Times have described the new treatment, a form of intravitreal therapy, as
the future method for preventing the blindness caused by AIDS.
S Dr. Ruth Ruprecht discovered AZT's role in preventing the mother-to-infant transmission
of an HIV-like retrovirus in mouse and monkey models. AmFAR's investment in Dr.
Ruprecht's early research yielded data that proved fundamental to the design of a clinical
study funded by the National Institutes of Health, ACTG 076. The results of this study
demonstrate that AZT reduces mother-to-infant HIV transmission in humans by twothirds. As a result of the application of this knowledge to clinical practice, fewer than
500 infants in the U.S. become infected with HIV per year.
S In 1992, AmFAR provided a basic research grant to Dr. Stephen Johnston to test "naked
DNA" vaccines in animal models. The promise of this novel approach to making a
vaccine is acknowledged by the fact that several large pharmaceutical companies are
developing DNA vaccines for AIDS and other infectious diseases, a number of which are
now being tested in early clinical trials. According to Dr. Johnston, "AmFAR was the
only one that would fund DNA vaccination at the time. AmFAR was there from the very
beginning."
( In 1992, AmFAR funded the nation's largest and most comprehensive study of the
effectiveness of syringe exchange programs in reducing the transmission of HIV among
injection-drug users. Syringe-exchange programs provide injection-drug users with

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