Institute of Human Virology Launches
HIV/AIDS Satellite Program in Nigeria

April 28, 2005
Contact: Beth Peterson (peterson@umbi.umd.edu) (410) 706-1948

ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND - The Institute of Human Virology (IHV) has established IHV-Nigeria to assist Africa's most populous nation in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The new entity, located in the Nigerian capital Abuja, is an extension of IHV's primary facility in Baltimore, and shares a common mission of care, treatment, training and research.

The announcement was made at the Maryland State Capitol by Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele. He was joined by IHV Director Dr. Robert C. Gallo, a co-discoverer of the AIDS virus, and Dr. William A. Blattner, Director of IHV's Epidemiology and Prevention Division and Principal Investigator (PI) for the project; and Nigerian-born IHV Virologist Dr. Alash'le G. Abimiku, co-PI for the project.

According to Dr. Blattner, IHV-Nigeria is modeled on IHV-Baltimore. "Its mission is to provide HIV/AIDS treatment, care and training; and to conduct research of HIV/AIDS and related diseases", he said. Dr. Robert C. Gallo, Director of the Institute notes that "IHV is dedicated to the principle that research is essential to developing the best therapies, prevention strategies and treatment and care approaches. IHV-Nigeria provides a platform for partnerships to effectively engage the best minds in solving research problems."

Nigeria, with an estimated population of nearly 140 million, is widely considered as a frontline in efforts to stem the tide of HIV/AIDS in Africa, where the disease has claimed millions of lives. According to researchers, nearly five percent of Nigerians are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

IHV-Nigeria's care and treatment mission is funded by awards through the University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB) from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that total $22 million through March 2006. Under this program IHV-Nigeria will facilitate treatment of nearly 15,000 Nigerians during the next year at six sites around the country. The funding is part of President Bush's larger Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a $15 billion five-year program to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS in 15 countries around the world. IHV previously received a $64 million, five-year award as a partner with Catholic Relief Services serving nine countries -- including Nigeria -- through the AIDS Relief Project, managed by Dr. Robert R. Redfield, director of IHV's clinical care and research division.

Project ACTION (AIDS Care and Treatment in Nigeria) is the implementation program for IHV-Nigeria's care and treatment program. Project ACTION Director Dr. John Farley, a UMB School of Medicine faculty member, noted that ACTION has already enrolled 841 patients, with an additional 1300 to be added by the end of this month. A total of 6 hospitals geographically dispersed throughout Nigeria have been equipped to support HIV therapy through IHV-Nigeria initiated laboratory infrastructure upgrades and via training of 274 clinical, laboratory, and technical personnel.

Commenting on Project ACTION, Dr. Donald Wilson, Dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine noted, "health challenges related to HIV/AIDS in Nigeria mirror those in the City of Baltimore, so there is much to be learned and much to be shared." Rates of infection in some Baltimore neighborhoods are reportedly equivalent to those in many African countries.

Dr. Gallo, working with Dr. Blattner and Dr. Abimiku, has been involved in Nigeria since 1991, when he developed the country's first dedicated HIV laboratory. In his honor, a state-of-the-art clinical and research laboratory structure at the Plateau State Human Virology Research Center was unveiled by the Nigerian government as "Gallo House" during the building dedication a year ago. According to Abimiku, a new training laboratory was implemented to provide ongoing training and quality control to ensure that HIV therapy is being safely delivered.

The research and research training mission of IHV-Nigeria is powered by funding from the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Center, and in collaboration with Harvard School of Public Health, with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation totaling $3.7 million in addition to PEPFAR funding. Central to the research training mission of IHV-Nigeria is an NIH Fogarty Center-sponsored grant that provides cutting edge research training to select Nigerian scientists. Three recent Nigerian trainees are engaged in vaccine development, drug discovery and drug resistance pattern research on Nigerian isolates of the virus; one trainee is named as a co-inventor on a patent disclosure. IHV-Nigeria research studies are focused on preventing HIV infection of children born of HIV infected mothers and are powered by funding from a collaboration with Harvard School of Public Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and on acute HIV infection through funding from CDC.

"The success of our trainees in advancing science is notable" states Dr. Abdulsalami Nasidi, the Director for Special Projects for the Federal Ministry of Health in Abuja, "but for science to advance to the next level in Africa, advanced facilities are needed." To this end IHV through IHV-Nigeria envisions a public-private partnership to build a research facility in Nigeria that will promote a common ground for mutual scientific advancement in the discovery process. Dr. Gallo will be traveling to Nigeria later this year to dedicate new IHV-Nigeria facilities and to chair a special scientific symposium on HIV/AIDS featuring presentations by Nigerian scientists.

IHV, a center of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and affiliated with the University of Maryland School of Medicine, is a first-of-its-kind center that espouses a multi-disciplinary approach that crosslinks AIDS research, treatment and prevention to more effectively address the global AIDS epidemic. For more information, visit www.ihv.org