Overview

• The project is co-led by Dr. Lishomwa Ndhlovu of Weill Cornell Medicine and Dr. Jonah Sacha of Oregon Health & Science University.
• Researchers will analyze samples from transplant recipients who cleared HIV as well as those who did not to identify immune mechanisms responsible for eradication.
• Once mechanisms are defined, the team will test immune‑based infusions in humanized mouse models and established non‑human primate models that replicate virus‑clearing transplants.
• Participants including Marc Franke, Adam Castillejo, and Paul Edmonds paused antiretroviral therapy and remain HIV‑free for years, supplying rare material for mechanistic study.
• Stem‑cell transplants demonstrate that HIV can be eliminated but remain risky and non‑scalable, guiding a preclinical push toward safer immunotherapy under a MERIT grant with potential renewal to ten years.