Rahman Lab Receives $728,000 NIH R Grant to Launch New HIV Research Program
Dr. Rahman, Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Emory School of Medicine and affiliated jointly with the Division of Microbiology and Immunology at Emory Primate Center, Emory University, has successfully secured the highly competitive NIH R Award. This award recognizes the lab’s pioneering work in integrative models to investigate HIV pathogenesis and cure strategies. This award marks a major milestone for the Rahman Lab, which just celebrated its first anniversary.
The NIH R21 Award is a crucial funding source that will support the lab’s ongoing research efforts to explore innovative avenues to combat HIV. Dr. Rahman’s team is at the forefront of HIV research. This is the first time Rahman lab will utilize an integrative organoid and regenerative immunology approach to better understand determinants of anti-viral immunity and latent reservoir establishment mechanisms – the two most crucial bottlenecks impeding success in finding an HIV cure.
Dr. Rahman expressed gratitude for the NIH’s support and highly supportive leadership at Emory University, stating, "This award will significantly advance our understanding of the determinants of anti-HIV immunity and persistence and has exciting potential to bring us closer to finding a cure. He further stated that “Cracking this award would not have been possible without key support from Dr. Guido Silvestri - Professor & Chair, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Executive Associate Dean for Research Strategy, Emory University School of Medicine; Dr. Paul R. Johnson - Director of the Emory Primate Center; and Dr. Mirko Paiardini - Chief of the Division of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory Primate Center. Dr. Rahman also thanks Emory CFAR and other colleagues at Emory University for their valuable feedback and support, which led to the success of this key NIH funding. Together, we aim to leverage this funding to develop novel approaches that could one day eradicate the virus from infected individuals."
The NIH R Award highlights the importance of innovative research in addressing the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. It positions the Rahman Lab as a promising young investigator in the field of HIV cure research. Dr. Rahman also thanks Emory CFAR, Dr. Rama Amara, and other core directors and colleagues at Emory University for their valuable feedback and support, which led to the success of this key NIH funding. With this support, the lab is poised to contribute substantially to the scientific community’s efforts to end the HIV pandemic.