amfAR Announces New Grants for COVID-19 Research

We are pleased to announce two new research grants awarded through the amfAR Fund to Fight COVID-19. One grant will support a study of the risks for “long-haulers”—those who continue to experience debilitating symptoms long after clearing infection—who are living with HIV. The other one will support a study of the effect of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, on the HIV reservoir. You can read about the grants here.

Expanding our efforts to include research on the deadly new coronavirus, in April we established the amfAR Fund to Fight COVID-19. The fact is, amfAR is uniquely positioned to participate in the all-out effort to develop effective treatments and a vaccine for the coronavirus. However, we remain fully committed to HIV research and to finding a cure for the 38 million people worldwide living with HIV. All money donated for HIV research will stay in HIV research, whereas all donations to this special fund will be earmarked for research on COVID-19. In these challenging times, we are especially grateful for your generous support. 

Frequently Asked Questions.

COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS

WHAT ARE THE COVID RISKS FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV?

When COVID-19 first emerged, there were good reasons to imagine that people living with HIV (PWH) might be at either increased, or decreased, risk due to their HIV infection or its treatment. What was needed were facts, so amfAR’s Vice President and Director of Research Dr. Rowena Johnston set out to analyze the outcomes in every reported case during the first six months of the pandemic.

READ FULL ARTICLE 

Participants Sought for COVID-19 Vaccine Follow-Up Study

Right now, an important question for people living with HIV is whether their immune system responses to COVID vaccines differ from the general population. A new study led by a team of researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine aims to answer that question.

READ FULL ARTICLE

Please visit http://www.vaccineresponse.org/ to learn more and enroll.

CONNECTIONS: COVID-19 AND HIV

In this new video interview series, we speak with people living with HIV about their experience of COVID-19.

Connections #2  Tom Perrault and Sal Giambanco discuss their experience of COVID-19 and the parallels between COVID and HIV. Tom also talks about his participation in an amfAR clinical trial aimed at “training” the body to control HIV without antiretroviral medication. Watch now on YouTube. Watch the full Connections series here.

INTERSECTIONS: HIV AND COVID-19

In this series of short videos, Dr. Rowena Johnston, amfAR VP and Director of Research, talks to HIV researchers about their involvement in the fight against COVID-19.  We’ll be adding new interviews regularly so check this page often. 

Intersections #8: HIV and COVID-19 – DNA Vaccine  amfAR-funded HIV researcher Dr. Dan Barouch of Harvard Medical School talks to amfAR’s Dr. Rowena Johnston about his team’s efforts to rapidly develop a safe and effective vaccine against the coronavirus. Watch the full Intersections series here.

BY THE NUMBERS

RESOURCES

Assessing the Impact of Covid-19 on Black Americans
New amfAR study finds that while disproportionately black counties make up just 22% of all US counties, they account for 52% and 58% of COVID-19 cases and deaths, respectively.

Policy Responses: Parallels Between HIV and COVID-19 

amfAR’s Vice President & Director of Public Policy Greg Millett recently spoke on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s forum on parallels between government responses to HIV and COVID-19. Millett presented COVID-19 data from amfAR’s Ending the HIV Epidemic database, updated daily: ehe.amfar.org

ISSUE BRIEF: Violence Crisis Services During Lockdown

amfAR assesses GBV service availability during COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa.

• HIV.gov
• Harm Reduction Coalition: COVID-19 Resources for People Who Use Drugs and People Vulnerable to Structural Violence
• BeatTheVirus.org
• POZ: What People with HIV Need to Know About the New Coronavirus
• AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Interim Guidance for COVID-19 and Persons with HIV (NIH)

FROM THE FRONT LINES

• Malaysia: Preparing for a Storm that was Already Here.

• The Philippines: We Try Our Best to Smile

IN THE NEWS

History Repeats Itself: COVID-19 Vaccine Inequities Echo HIV Crisis
NPR – February 23, 2021
Kenyan AIDS activists share how the “central lesson” of the HIV epidemic - that if one person is vulnerable, everyone is vulnerable - seems lost, as rich countries are hoarding COVID-19 vaccines and poor countries are paying higher prices for them.

From HIV to Covid, Pandemics Show Us Fear of Disease Is Coloured By Prejudice
The Guardian – February 22, 2021
A historian of science shares how pandemic fear is colored by social, historical and cultural factors – notably prejudice. He compares the current criticism he’s seen towards Black Americans during COVID-19 to the prejudice he witnessed towards the queer community during the early days of the AIDS epidemic.

Assessing COVID-19’s Impact on Black Communities
Elsevier Atlas – February 18, 2021
amfAR’s VP & Director of Public Policy Greg Millett was the recipient of the 2020 Elsevier Atlas Award, recognizing research that could significantly impact people’s lives around the world. Greg received the award for his article in Annals of Epidemiology: Assessing differential impacts of COVID-19 on Black communities, which he discusses in more detail in this article.

Reviving the Office of National AIDS Policy Is Crucial to Ending the HIV Epidemic
The Body – February 17, 2021
amfAR’s VP & Director of Public Policy Greg Millett shares his insights on the toll COVID-19 has played on the Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) plan, as well as the U.S.’ path forward.  

COVID-19 Response Missed The Lessons Of AIDS Crisis, Experts Say
New York 1 – February 12, 2021
amfAR’s VP & Director of Public Policy Greg Millett along with friends of amfAR Hydeia Broadbent and Maria Davis weigh in on how both the HIV/AIDS epidemic and COVID-19 pandemic continue to disproportionately impact the Black community.