{"id":20177,"date":"2026-03-12T12:35:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T16:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/cfar\/?p=20177"},"modified":"2026-03-12T12:35:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T16:35:07","slug":"gay-leads-new-frontier-in-hiv-cure-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/cfar\/2026\/03\/gay-leads-new-frontier-in-hiv-cure-science\/","title":{"rendered":"Gay Leads New Frontier in HIV Cure Science"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"In a new chapter of global HIV cure science, Cindy Gay, MD, MPH, a researcher at the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases and the UNC HIV Cure Center, has launched one clinical trial, and plans to start the second in the next few months, designed to make infected cells visible to targeted immune clearing strategies.<\/p>\n

The first trial, Deliver-02,\u00a0focuses on applying innovative latency\u2011reversal strategies with engineered antibodies to target the latent HIV reservoirs or cells that remain infected despite antiretroviral therapy. Specifically, the study will utilize highly engineered DART\u00ae (Dual Affinity Re-Targeting) molecules\u2014 called MGD014 and MGD020\u2014created by biotechnology partner MacroGenics designed to attach to cells expressing HIV and simultaneously attach to a\u202fT-cell (the immune system\u2019s soldier). In effect, the two are brought together so that the T-cell can kill the infected cell\u2014targeting the persistent reservoir of HIV infection while leaving healthy cells alone. The trial is led by Dr. David Margolis and Dr. Fredrick Sawe, MBChB, MMED at the Kenya Medical Research Institute\/Walter Reed Project.<\/p>\n

The second trial will be the first\u2011in\u2011human study of IAP 086, a new latency\u2011reversing agent. The new drug could provide a safer, more potent way to more effectively activate hidden HIV. The study will include participants with\u202fwell-controlled HIV, monitored in an inpatient clinical research unit after receiving the novel drug, to carefully monitor participant safety.<\/p>\n

Read more about Dr. Gay\u2019s work here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a new chapter of global HIV cure science, Cindy Gay, MD, MPH, a researcher at the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases and the UNC HIV Cure Center, has launched one clinical trial, and plans to start the second in the next few months, designed to make infected cells visible to targeted immune … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119377,"featured_media":20178,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGay Leads New Frontier in HIV Cure Science - UNC Center for AIDS Research<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/cfar\/2026\/03\/gay-leads-new-frontier-in-hiv-cure-science\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gay Leads New Frontier in HIV Cure Science - 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