# Defining Factors Controlling HIV Rebound

> **NIH NIH P01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2020 · $1,485,132

## Abstract

ABSTRACT (Overall)
Untreated HIV infection is generally characterized by a continuous battle between the virus and the host
immune response, with billions of new virions and infected cells produced and cleared every day. Treatment
with ART eliminates the vast majority of (or potentially all) HIV replication, and plasma viral loads often fall to
levels that are undetectable with standard clinical assays. However, certain reservoirs of replication-competent
virus persist during therapy. Therefore if ART is stopped then virus can emerge from these reservoirs and
rapidly spread, causing renewed progression towards AIDS. The goal of this program project is to gain a
better understanding of the factors that cause this viral rebound, and to develop new methods to control or
minimize viral rebound following cessation of therapy. We intend to approach this problem by utilizing cutting
edge humanized mouse models, coupled with unique viral reagents, including a barcoded HIV swarm, as well
as additional novel reagents (chimeric antigen receptors) and vaccine strategies. This program will involve
three scientific projects, an administrative core (Core A), and two scientific cores. Projects include 1) “Defining
the causes and consequences of viral rebound”, which will study what factors influence activation of cells to
give rise to viral rebound; 2) “Impact of engineered immune cells on HIV rebound”, which will determine the
effect of engineered innate and anamnestic cells on viral rebound; 3) “Effects of vaccines on formation and
clearance of the HIV latent reservoir”, which will determine the effect of vaccination, with either a non-HIV-
specific or an HIV-specific vaccine on viral reservoirs and rebound. The two scientific cores will be the Viral
Genetics Core (Core B) that will perform sequencing and bioinformatics analysis of barcoded virus for all
projects, and the Humanized Mouse Core (Core C), which will perform in vivo manipulations for all projects.
Together we hope to define factors contributing to viral rebound, and possibly identify adjunctive therapeutic
approaches to provide patients with sustained virologic remissions.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9984256
- **Project number:** 5P01AI131294-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Jerome A. Zack
- **Activity code:** P01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $1,485,132
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-08-10 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9984256

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9984256, Defining Factors Controlling HIV Rebound (5P01AI131294-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9984256. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*