HIV/AIDS

The example of the “Berlin patient,” the only person ever cured of HIV infection, has energized HIV/AIDS researchers around the world. They are exploring a variety of tactics to attack the HIV reservoir in infected people, ranging from gene editing to “kick and kill.” A host of Emory/Yerkes researchers are among those pushing this forward.

This past year, an Emory/NIAID team led by Tab Ansari showed that a gentle, antibody-based approach could suppress SIV infection in macaques for extended periods, which surprised many in the field. The human test of this approach is now underway at the National Institutes of Health.

On the preventive vaccine side, a large scale efficacy study recently begun in South Africa, the first in seven years. Geovax’s Emory-rooted technology continues to advance in clinical studies. Further back in the pipeline, Yerkes researchers are testing innovative approaches, such as Rama Amara’s milk-bacteria-based mucosal vaccine and the potent nanoparticle adjuvants developed by Bali Pulendran’s group.

Zika

Despite the World Health Organization’s declaration in November that the public health emergency is over, Zika infection is still driving brain-related birth defects in several countries. Expect to hear more about Zika epidemiology and vaccine research, including from Emory investigators, next year.

In contrast with HIV, which seems to escape from almost anything we or our immune systems throw at it, Zika is doable, scientists think. At a Vaccine Dinner Club talk in September, Harvard’s Dan Barouch made the case that Zika is a slam dunk, immunologically. Two big questions remain: does dengue get in the way? And can vaccine makers test quickly and distribute widely?

FMT for antibiotic-resistant infections

Emory physicians have been leaders in developing fecal microbiota transplant as a remedy for recurrent Clostridium dificile infection. This form of diarrhea, which can be life-threatening, sometimes arises as a result of antibiotics that wipe out the helpful bacteria that live in the intestines, paving the way for “C diff.”

Now the Emory team (Colleen Kraft/Tanvi Dhere/Aneesh Mehta/Rachel Friedman-Moraco) is testing whether FMT could prevent other antibiotic-resistant infections besides C diff. This approach will be examined in a group of patients that tends to have a lot of antibiotic exposure: kidney transplant recipients. The team’s first publication on this topic from 2014 is here.

Electrical stimulation of the brain to enhance memory

At Emory, we are familiar with deep brain stimulation to treat Parkinson’s, epilepsy, and treatment-resistant depression. Now experiments are underway to test whether similar techniques can enhance memory.

To be sure, there already have been some reports on transcranial (that is, non-invasive) electrical stimulation to enhance memory, enough that some neurologists have published a warning to the “do it yourself” community.

In addition, we can anticipate that immunotherapy will be tested in additional types of cancer such as breast cancer, the prospect of customizing a cancer patient’s diet to tumor-specific genetics will capture attention, and cardiology outcomes for PCSK9 inhibitors will be pored over. What about stem cells? Exosomes? What do you think will be hot?