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Susan R. Miller

Garton-Miller Media

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FORT LAUDERDALE – JULY 19, 2018 -- The Campbell Foundation has awarded a $75,000 grant to Dr. Robert Shafer, MD, professor of infectious diseases at the Stanford University School of Medicine and his team to build on their NIH-funded research. The grant will fund the addition of vital test enhancements that will better allow HIV care providers to make informed treatment decisions for patients who either are starting treatment or who are on treatment that is not working due to drug resistance.

 

“This grant will help in the development of an inexpensive point-of-care (POC) test to quickly determine a patient’s antiretroviral therapy (ARV) drug resistance,” said The Campbell Foundation’s 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.”

 

The evolution of drug resistance has significant clinical implications for determining which antiretroviral regimens will be successful. Such tests are becoming a routine part of HIV care.

 

“We’re grateful to the Campbell Foundation for this funding, which will assist us in generating sufficient preliminary data to continue this work,” said Dr. Shafer.

 

In approving the grant, a Campbell Foundation Peer Review Board stated that it was “an exciting opportunity to develop point-of-care for assessing appropriate viral suppression or the emergence of drug-resistant HIV genotypes. This should result in greatly improved drug management for HIV patients.”

 

 

About The Campbell Foundation

The Campbell Foundation was established in 1995 by the late Richard Campbell Zahn as a private, independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting clinical, laboratory-based research into the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. It focuses its funding on supporting alternative, nontraditional avenues of research. In its 23nd year, the Campbell Foundation has given away $10.8 million dollars, with about $1.2 million going to direct services.