Funded Research: Conquer HIV/Pathogens in Oral Reservoirs

The goal of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to support novel basic and translational research projects that focus on the biology of residual oral reservoirs for HIV and opportunistic oral pathogens.These studies will advance our understanding of the immunologic, pathogenic, molecular and cellular mechanisms important for eliminating latently persistent, reactivation competent HIV and other opportunistic pathogens from residual oral reservoirs.Specifically, this FOA encourages studies on: 1) purging and abolishing these pathogens after using Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) to induce cytopathic killing and immunoclearance; or 2) developing alternative strategies that directly eliminate latently infected cells in which HAART resistant HIV and opportunistic pathogens persist in oral reservoirs.