$75K Granted for Drug Resistance Test

Some hopeful news was revealed this week in the area of HIV drug resistance. Dr. Robert Shafer and his team at the Stanford University School of Medicine have received a $75,000 grant to continue their years of work toward developing a test that can detect a person’s resistance to HIV meds.

The grant is being provided by The Campbell Foundation, a 23-year-old nonprofit that helps support nontraditional, laboratory-based HIV research and has awarded over $10.8 million in grants—$1.2 million of which has gone to direct services for those living with or affected by HIV.

The $75,000 is being given to Shafer and his team to build on previous research and will specifically fund vital enhancements of the test. “We’re grateful to the Campbell Foundation for this funding, which will assist us in generating sufficient preliminary data to continue this work,” said Shafer in a statement to the press.

Awareness of a resistance to any antiretroviral drugs is essential for those living with HIV, so that they can be prescribed the most effective treatment regimen possible. This test could potentially be used for people who have just been diagnosed, as well as for those currently on a treatment but who are experiencing drug resistance issues.

“This grant will help in the development of an inexpensive point-of-care test to quickly determine a patient’s antiretroviral therapy drug resistance,” said Campbell Foundation executive director Ken Rapkin. “We are excited about the possibilities associated with Dr. Shafer’s research, particularly at a time when we are encountering an increase in drug resistance. The Campbell Foundation’s focus is in funding groundbreaking research and we believe this dovetails with our mission.”