Riders gather at the Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center for the final leg of their ride.
More than 130 bicyclists rode 200 miles in two days to raise $188,660 for AIDS vaccine research at the Emory Vaccine Center. The AIDS Vaccine 200 on May 22-23, sponsored by Action Cycling Atlanta, was the eighth annual ride. The series now has raised more than $680,000 for AIDS vaccine research.
This year’s riders traveled from Emory to Eatonton, Georgia, and back to Emory along with a volunteer crew.
Because of generous sponsorships, Action Cycling donates 100 percent of funds raised by participants to AIDS vaccine research. These unrestricted funds fill gaps that cannot be met by grant dollars alone.
“The world still desperately needs effective AIDS vaccines, and the Emory Vaccine Center is at the forefront of AIDS vaccine development,” says Rafi Ahmed, PhD, director of the Emory Vaccine Center and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar.
A few of the projects that have been supported by Action Cycling’s AV200 include:
- Development of one of the world’s first preventive AIDS vaccines, currently being tested in phase II clinical trials, and development of a therapeutic vaccine soon to enter clinical testing.
- Combating AIDS in Africa through prevention, counseling, and vaccine development and testing.
- Innovative discoveries bout the immune system leading to new strategies to fight chronic infections like HIV/AIDS.
- Testing of potential new HIV/AIDS vaccines at The Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center.
- Development of an AIDS vaccine at the Vaccine Center’s satellite campus in New Delhi, India.
