Patrick Kiser of the University of Utah in the U.S. will design a vaginal gel that blocks HIV by becoming impermeable in response to the pH change induced by the presence of semen, and includes a polymer engineered to bind to HIV surface proteins to halt viral transport to susceptible tissues and HIV target cells. In this project's Phase I research, Kiser and his team engineered a synthetic polymer that has many of the properties of mucus, and demonstrated that the polymers slow or stops the movement of cells in the presence of semen. In Phase II, Kiser will focus on developing a pericoital contraceptive gel that will prevent the movement of spermatozoa into the uterus.

Kuan-Teh Jeang of the National Institutes of Health in the U.S. will investigate whether cells infected by one virus become resistant to infection from other viruses, and if this viral interference can confer protection against HIV. The team will develop an attenuated virus to test whether over-expression of viral envelope proteins within cells can confer resistance to further HIV infection.

Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) is the leading cause of diarrhea in the developing world. Roy Robins-Browne, of the University of Melbourne, in Australia will evaluate the effectiveness of a prototype vaccine that combines enterotoxin of E. coli (which lacks immunogenicity by itself) with another epitope to attract helper T cells and a lipid adjuvant to ensure delivery of the antigen directly into the cell.

Ines Atmosukarto of Lipotek Pty Ltd. in Australia proposes to develop a novel TB vaccine utilizing synthetic “nano-sacs” called liposomes that carry TB antigens and are anchored with a self-adjuvanting protein that binds to and stimulates dendritic cells.