HIV Vaccine Trials Unit

Our HIV Vaccine Trials Unit is part of the Division of Infectious Disease at Brigham & Women's Hospital (BWH), an affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

In this setting, our Unit conducts HIV vaccine clinical trials both independently and as part of an international collaboration of scientists known as the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN). There are two HVTN sites in Boston: Our site at BWH, and one at Fenway Health.

More than 60 million people have been infected with HIV worldwide, and nearly half have died. Currently, more than 1.2 million people living in the US are infected with HIV, with more than 28 thousand total cases diagnosed in MA. Since 1999 there have been more than 8 thousand individuals have been diagnosed with HIV in Boston alone. In light of the widespread effects of this devastating epidemic, our mission is to participate in the collaborative effort to find a safe and effective vaccine that can one day stop the transmission of HIV both locally and abroad. We accomplish this mission by conducting HIV vaccine clinical trials and by promoting vaccine research as a key part of prevention through local community outreach and education.

Our research and community outreach is supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).