amfAR FUND TO FIGHT COVID-19
With 35 years’ experience as a leader in infectious disease research, amfAR is uniquely positioned to identify gaps in current COVID-19 research efforts and quickly mobilize resources to fill them. When the pandemic hit, many amfAR-funded HIV scientists quickly pivoted their work to focus on the immediate crisis of COVID-19. To support them, amfAR made a strategic decision to temporarily expand its efforts beyond HIV and launched the amfAR Fund to Fight COVID-19.
Published Research
The first two recipients of grants from the Fund published their findings in October 2020.
In his study of antibody responses to COVID-19, Dr. Andres Finzi of the University of Montreal found that antibody levels in the blood of COVID-19 patients drop rapidly during the weeks after they have cleared the virus and symptoms have subsided. If convalescent plasma is ultimately shown to have a clear benefit, the authors concluded, then it needs to be collected during a specific window of time after recovery.
Dr. Matthias Kretzler and colleagues at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, reported findings from their study of the kidney damage that can result from COVID-19. Dr. Kretzler focused on the region of the kidney with the highest amount of ACE2, the receptor that the coronavirus uses to get into cells. The researchers identified two possible ways that ACE2-associated pathways could interact with coronavirus infections.
New Grants
In January 2021 amfAR awarded two new research grants totaling approximately $700,000. Dr. Annukka Antar of Johns Hopkins University, along with Dr. Michael Peluso of the University of California, San Francisco, are addressing the important question: what are the risks for COVID “long-haulers”— those who continue to experience debilitating symptoms long after clearing infection — who are living with HIV? In the second grant, a team of researchers led by Dr. Mathias Lichterfeld of Massachusetts General Hospital aims to determine what, if any, effect the coronavirus has on the HIV reservoir.
HIV and COVID-19
amfAR VP and Director of Research Dr. Rowena Johnston and colleagues combed through thousands of scientific reports in search of evidence of the relative impacts of COVID-19 on people living with HIV. Among the findings in her published analysis, which included data on nearly 7,000 people living with HIV (PWH), while PWH appeared to be diagnosed with COVID more often than expected, mortality rates were no higher than in the general population.
Policy Research
Like the fight against AIDS, the response to COVID-19 is not simply a struggle between us and a virus. It is a struggle against the inequities that enable both viruses to prey on certain, mostly marginalized, populations. amfAR is also working to better understand and address these disparities.
A study led by amfAR’s public policy team and researchers at Emory University garnered widespread attention. Released in May, the study showed how disproportionately black counties have much higher rates of COVID-19 than all other U.S. counties. It was featured in leading media outlets including several CNN shows, The Washington Post, Politico, and The Hill.
amfAR VP and Director of Public Policy, Greg Millett, was senior author on another study, published in July, that found that factors linked to structural racism put Latino communities nationwide at high risk of COVID-19. The study was conducted by a multi-institutional team led by researchers at The George Washington University.
An analysis released by amfAR in August showed how disproportionately white counties in the U.S. have consistently lower rates of COVID-19 and HIV. Residential segregation, structural racism and social determinants of health were noted as key factors driving diagnoses in nonwhite communities.
Mission Unchanged
While we continue to pursue a cure for HIV, amfAR will supplement those efforts with research on COVID-19 for as long as this deadly new threat persists. When the threat of the coronavirus is lifted, we will close out these efforts and continue to dedicate ourselves exclusively to our mission of ending the global AIDS epidemic through innovative research.