The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla and Duke University
have been awarded a federal grant expected to total up to $186
million over seven years to research and develop an AIDS
vaccine. The funding was announced Wednesday by the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the
National Institutes of Health. The size of the grant reflects
NIH expectations that researchers at Scripps and Duke may
finally be on the right track toward developing a vaccine, said
Carl Diefenbach, director of the Division of AIDS at the
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “We’re at
a point where we think this could pay off,” he said. The first-
year grant is $31 million, with $11.1 million going to Scripps;
it expects to receive about $77 million over the life of the
grant. “The beauty of the work Scripps is doing is that the team
is incredibly gifted and collaborative,” Diefenbach said. “It’s
wonderful that they were able to compete successfully for this
grant.” Scripps and Duke will use th