ANRS MIE/DZIF Joint Call for Research on a Cure for HIV, HBV and HDV

Funding to support collaborative projects involving both French and German research teams focused on finding a cure for HIV, hepatitis B and/or hepatitis D. 

France’s Agence Nationale de Recherche sur le Sida | Maladies Infectieuses Emergentes (ANRS MIE – National Agency for AIDS Research – Emerging Infectious Diseases) was founded in 1988 by the Ministry of Research and Technology as part of the government’s plan to combat the AIDS epidemic. Its mission is to evaluate, promote, coordinate and fund research on AIDS and human retroviral infections, in collaboration with other French institutions conducting biological and medical research.

Deutsche Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (DZIF – German Centre for Infection Research) is an association of 35 university and non-university member institutions in seven locations across Germany. The centre was established by Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt (BMFTR – Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space) and it is funded mainly through federal funding.

ANRS MIE and DZIF have launched a joint call for proposals to fund innovative translational and preclinical research into finding a cure for HIV, hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis D (HDV). In addition to addressing an area of mutual concern, the call is intended to strengthen scientific collaboration between France and Germany for the long term. Proposals must be focused on curing HIV, HBV and/or HBD and must provide an explanation of how the proposed strategy could lead to a functional cure or eradication of the virus. They must also present a clear translational trajectory, showing how the research could eventually lead to a clinical application. Projects must also propose an innovative approach that is likely to help progress research in the field. 

Potential focus areas for projects include, but are not limited to:

• Developing new therapeutic strategies, including immunomodulatory approaches targeting viral reservoirs.
• Developing, validating or utilising relevant preclinical models to study viral persistence, viral reservoirs and immune control mechanisms.
• Utilising samples and clinical datasets to identify viral control mechanisms or new therapeutic targets to aid cure strategies.
• Ambitious, high-risk high-gain approaches that are likely to produce major scientific advances.