Our research: Meeting global challenges

In line with our vision for the Institute for Immunology and Infectious Diseases, we aim to make a valuable contribution to global communities and the medical industry through our research. This commitment has been recognised through a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Our researchers have already made an enormous difference to the way HIV AIDS and other disease are treated, and have built and maintained the world’s largest repository of population data on HIV and human genetic diversity.

To date, our researchers have achieved a number of ground-breaking milestones, including the discovery of:

• A link between human genetic diversity and HIV diversity, which has allowed them to work on specific vaccines for HIV patients.
• A genetic link between an anti-HIV drug and life-threatening reactions, which has led to the development of a genetic test to determine patients’ suitability for that treatment.
• A link between a group of anti-HIV drugs and a fat-wasting disease.

Our team now plans to expand their efforts into areas such as clinical pharmacology, haemophilia and thrombosis, research and tropical diseases. Beyond this research, the principles behind what is known as host-pathogen genetics could be applied to cancer research, environmental science, agriculture and veterinary medicine.