Infectious Diseases in Africa: Immune Escape and HIV Vaccines

抽象的。 非洲大陆传染病的巨大负担主要是艾滋病毒， 肺结核和疟疾。仅这三种疾病就造成了社会和经济的不稳定， 大多数非洲国家的所有年龄组，特别是儿童。艾滋病规划署最近 据估计，目前全球有3690万人携带HIV-1病毒 其中2580万人居住在撒哈拉以南非洲。实施反 对HIV-1感染者的逆转录病毒疗法是必要的短期解决办法， 并发症的费用和药物的医源性影响，并不是一个长期的解决方案，停止 在SSA流行。艾滋病毒预防对于扭转艾滋病毒感染的趋势仍然至关重要， 艾滋病病毒1型疫苗是迫切需要的。HIV-1逃避免疫反应的能力 这是一个复杂而具有挑战性的障碍，需要解决， 可以制定方案。同样，需要不断努力开发疫苗， 减少结核病和疟疾的HIV-1共病。2015年，艾滋病研究办公室宣布， 减少艾滋病毒感染率的优先调查领域，包括发展安全的 有效的艾滋病毒疫苗和劳动力的研究培训（NOT-OD-15-137; http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-15-137.html).在本申请中，我们建议 培训非洲的青年科学家，以填补目前在非洲建立科学素养的努力中的差距。 并提高进行免疫学研究的能力。由于国家卫生研究院赞助 在非洲的几个基础研究项目以及临床疫苗试验中，我们认为， 非洲传染病专题讨论会将增加科学知识， 大陆未来的科学家 在两轮为期3年的资助（以及6次IDA研讨会）的基础上，我们现在提出了另一套 专题讨论会，其总体目标是：1）提供下列领域的前沿知识： 艾滋病毒疫苗的开发以及疟疾和结核病的相关方面;以及2）促进科学 在非洲大陆的领导地位。 我们建议在南非开普敦举行一套三个国际开发协会专题讨论会， 每次会议我们都会集中讨论具体的议题。在第一届IDA研讨会上，我们将重点关注 艾滋病毒逃离免疫系统的机制，以及这是如何代表一个重大挑战， 疫苗研发。根据我们之前的经验，我们开发了一种独特的方法， 学生：教师指导，包括在线学习和接触时间，重点是 圆桌讨论。

Abstract. The huge burden of communicable diseases on the African continent is largely made up of HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The trio of diseases alone is creating societal and economic instability in most African countries across all age groups, and particularly in children. Most recent UNAIDS estimates of the global burden of HIV are that 36.9 million people are currently living with HIV-1 infection and 25.8 million of them reside in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The implementation of anti- retroviral therapy of HIV-1 infected people, which are necessary short-term solutions, comes with complications of costs and iatrogenic effects of drugs, and is not a long-term solution to stop the epidemic in SSA. HIV prevention remains critical to turn the tide of HIV infections and an effective vaccine against HIV-1 is desperately needed. The ability of HIV-1 to escape immune responses represents a complex and challenging hurdle that needs to be resolved so that a protective vaccine regimen can be developed. Similarly, continuous efforts are required to develop vaccines that would mitigate HIV-1 co-morbidities of TB and malaria. In 2015, the Office of AIDS Research announced priority areas of investigations into reducing the incidence of HIV, including the development of safe and effective HIV vaccines and research training of the workforce (NOT-OD-15-137; http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-15-137.html). In this application, we propose to train young scientists in Africa to fill the gap in ongoing efforts to build scientific literacy on the continent and to enhance the ability to perform immunology research. As the NIH is sponsoring several basic research projects as well as clinical vaccine trials in Africa, we believe that the proposed Infectious Disease in Africa symposia will lead to increased scientific knowledge and will help build future scientific leaders on the Continent. On the back of two rounds of 3-year funding (and 6 IDA symposia), we now propose a further set of symposia, where the overarching aims are: 1) to provide cutting-edge knowledge in the fields of HIV vaccine development and related aspects of malaria and TB; and 2) to foster scientific leadership on the African Continent. We are proposing a set of three IDA symposia that will take place in Cape Town, South Africa and we will focus on specific topics for each meeting. In the first IDA symposium, we will focus on mechanisms of HIV escape from the immune system and how this represents a major challenge for vaccine development. With our prior experience, we have developed a unique approach of student:teacher mentorship which involves a blend of on-line learning and contact time focused on round-table discussions.