The Campbell Foundation
Helping Make HIV/AIDS History Since 1995
Press Releases 2023
The Campbell Foundation Awards $25,000 in “Holiday Hug” Grants to Florida Organizations Serving the HIV/AIDS Community
FORT LAUDERDALE – Dec. 13, 2023 – The Campbell Foundation is once again delivering its annual “Holiday Hugs” to HIV/AIDS service organizations across Florida, offering crucial end‑of‑year support at a time when many agencies are stretched thin. Since 1995, the Fort Lauderdale–based foundation has provided these flexible grants to help community partners continue offering medical care, mental‑health services, housing, transportation, and education through December, when budgets often run dry.This year, Broward House received a $5,000 Holiday Hug after one of its assisted‑living facilities sustained severe flood damage. Other organizations across the state received $2,000 each, with Latinos Salud, Pride Center, and SunServe eligible for matching funds through the Florida AIDS Walk, doubling the impact of their grants. Leaders from several agencies emphasized that Holiday Hugs fund critical services not covered by traditional grants—from transportation to non‑emergency HIV care to holiday support for families. The Campbell Foundation also announced nearly $255,000 in new funding for HIV/AIDS researchers in Miami, Philadelphia, and New York, continuing its long‑standing commitment to advancing scientific discovery while supporting frontline providers.
Campbell Foundation Provides $65,000 Grant
to Fund CAR T Research at The Wistar Institute
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL –– Sept. 13 , 2023 –– The Campbell Foundation has awarded $65,000 to Daniel Claiborne, Ph.D., an immunologist at The Wistar Institute, to advance innovative research re‑engineering CAR T cells to better target and eliminate HIV‑infected cells. Dr. Claiborne’s work leverages recent breakthroughs in genetic engineering to create T cells capable of overcoming HIV’s escape mechanisms and delivering more potent, disease‑specific responses. Peer Review Board members praised the project as ambitious, highly relevant, and supported by strong preliminary data. Executive Director Ken Rapkin noted the proposal’s rigor and innovation, saying it reflects the foundation’s mission to fund groundbreaking laboratory-based HIV/AIDS research. Founded as the nation’s first independent nonprofit biomedical research institute, Wistar has received five Campbell Foundation grants since 1998, underscoring a long-standing partnership in advancing HIV cure strategies.
Campbell Foundation Grant Funds UM Research
Using Anti-Malaria Drugs to Enhance AAV-Based HIV Vaccines
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL –– April 26, 2023 -- The Campbell Foundation has awarded an $80,000 grant to James Termini, PhD, a research assistant professor at the University of Miami, to advance a promising strategy aimed at improving long‑term HIV protection using AAV‑delivered broadly neutralizing antibodies. Termini’s team is testing whether three FDA‑approved anti‑malarial drugs — Chloroquine, Quinacrine, and Hydroxychloroquine — can inhibit TLR9, an immune receptor that sometimes causes the body to reject the antibodies delivered by AAV‑based vaccines. Early studies show these drugs can reduce TLR9 signaling by more than 80%, potentially allowing the antibodies to persist and function as intended. If successful, this approach could overcome one of the biggest limitations of AAV‑based HIV vaccines: the immune system’s tendency to recognize and clear the delivered antibodies. Campbell Foundation Executive Director Ken Rapkin noted that a single inoculation capable of providing lifelong protection “could represent a functional cure for HIV.” A peer reviewer described the project as “high risk/high reward,” aligning with The Campbell Foundation’s mission to catalyze innovative HIV research with the potential to spark larger breakthroughs.
Campbell Foundation Grant Funds Research
to Study Human Milk and HIV
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL –– Feb. 6, 2023 – The Campbell Foundation has awarded an $84,235 grant to researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai to investigate a striking question: Can human milk help prevent HIV transmission? Led by Rebecca Powell, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine, the study will examine how unique immune cells found in human milk may contribute to its virus‑killing properties — a phenomenon that helps explain why only about 15 percent of infants exclusively chest/breastfed by an HIV‑positive parent become infected. Dr. Powell’s team has identified unusual milk‑based leukocytes capable of antibody‑dependent cellular phagocytosis (ADCP), meaning they can engulf and destroy HIV coated in antibodies. These “blast‑like” monocyte‑lineage cells differ from classical blood monocytes, suggesting human milk contains specialized immune defenders that remain poorly understood. With infants ingesting up to 100 million milk cells daily, the study aims to clarify how these cells contribute to milk’s antiviral activity and how future vaccines might stimulate targeted milk antibodies.