The IAVI Neutralizing Antibody Center at The
Scripps Research Institute

IAVI and The Scripps Research Institute have opened the world’s first institution dedicated to solving what is perhaps the most pressing problem in the field of AIDS vaccine research: eliciting broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs), that is, antibodies that neutralize a broad range of HIV types.

Located on the Scripps campus in La Jolla, California, the Center brings together leading specialists—including structural biologists, computational biologists, immunologists and protein chemists—to work in concert on the problem. The Center also serves as the scientific headquarters of IAVI’s Neutralizing Antibody Consortium (NAC), which seeks to figure out, in atomic detail, how various bnAbs work and to tap that information to devise an effective AIDS vaccine.

A computer model showing one of the world's few known broadly neutralizing antibodies attached to the surface of HIV. Image courtesy of of Bill Schief, Ph.D., University of Washington.

 

Scientific projects at the center and across the NAC are supported by an industrial project management structure. This ensures that all work conducted by participating laboratories is closely coordinated, that core resources are in place and the data generated by different labs can be validly compared. The Center coordinates its activities closely with partnering research centers in sub-Saharan Africa, the AIDS Vaccine Design and Development Laboratory in New York City and collaborating labs of India’s Department of Biotechnology.