German AIDS researchers
In the fight against AIDS, scientists investigate how HIV viruses attack the immune system and search for new types of therapies.
In recent years some impressive work has been carried out in Germany in the field of AIDS research, in particular by the molecular biologist Frank Kirchhoff from the University of Ulm. To put it very simply, Professor Kirchhoff examines how the HIV virus bypasses the human immune system, and how the latter can be strengthened. The Director of the Institute of Molecular Virology at the University of Ulm has already received numerous research awards for his trailblazing studies. In 2012 he received one of the highly endowed Advanced Grants from the European Research Council, and in September 2013 he was presented with the Ernst Schering Award in Berlin.
Another multiple award winning HIV expert is the physician Schlomo Staszewski who, up to his retirement in 2007, was active at the University Hospital of Frankfurt am Main. He is regarded as one of the pioneers in combined highly active antiretroviral therapy against HIV. It is still the standard HIV therapy today and has made significant contributions to improving the quality of life and the survival prospects for HIV patients. In October 2013 Schlomo Staszewski was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
His colleague Oliver Keppler is director of the National Reference Centre for Retroviruses which was founded a year ago in Frankfurt. Keppler’s main area of research is dedicated to investigating possible vaccines against HIV. In 2012, Oliver Keppler’s group discovered the effects of the enzyme SAMHD1 in inhibiting HIV infections in a specific type of white blood cells.
World AIDS Day on 1 December 2013
