In the end of 2006, President Wong also received a 5-year grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop new glycolipids adjuvant for use in development of HIV vaccine. Since then, his lab has received more than 18 million NT dollars.
The total of the HIV fatality has exceeded 25 million globally ever since the first identification of the virus in 1983. It is estimated by the United Nations that over 33 million of the world population are HIV positive. Current treatments are mostly effective in prolonging patients’ lives and extending the virus incubation periods. It is believed only effective vaccines can help ease the spreading of the disease and shall have enormous impacts on the epidemics.
The long waited HIV vaccine developed by Merck was announced failure at the tenth year of its development, such disappointment urged researchers to find new approaches. Lately, it was reported a 2G12 antibody found on some aborigines in Australia assures these people immune from HIV virus. The group led by Dr. Chi-Huey Wong had successfully identified the special glycoprotein on the HIV surface which 2G12 interacts to, and designed and synthesized a compound called “glycodendron” accordingly. The compound was proved to inhibit transmission of the HIV virus as well as triggering immune responses in lab rats. (See prior report: http://genomics.sinica.edu.tw/ch/index.php?t=20&article_id=520)
“It is very encouraging to see that international foundations recognize the importance of our research and are willing to support us.” said Dr. Chi-Huey Wong, President of Academia Sinica and head of the Chemical Biology Research Program at GRC.
** Source from:
IAVI : http://www.iavi.org/
Gates foundation: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Pages/home.aspx