There are two great local articles about HIV vaccine research, be sure to check them out. First, Metro Weekly has an article about Monday Night's presentation on HIV Vaccine Research organized by The Center. If you missed the event, it was a great night of fun and discussion at one my favorite local hangouts, the Ramrod.One of the hot topics of the night was the recent closure of a Merck vaccine study, known as the Step Study. While the failure of this study is disappointing, it is important to remember was just one of many approaches to HIV Vaccine Research currently being researched.
Which brings me to the Washington Blade Article on the Step Study. The article quotes one of many researchers involved in the study, Dr. Mark Mulligan from Atlanta's Hope Center:
“While disappointment was my main reaction, the next step is, OK, this is science and we’ve gotten a clear and strong answer what direction not to take,” Mulligan added. “We knew it might work, that it might not work. And we learn from that experience, so in that sense, it has been successful. Now we can throw our energy and efforts into other candidate vaccines.”
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