In the project, several national and international research groups are working on different themes to achieve a first step towards HIV cures that are safe, acceptable, affordable and, in particular, equitable worldwide. This collaboration rises above the boundaries of research disciplines to achieve groundbreaking, new insights. Together with stakeholders from the community of people living with HIV and industry, project partners work to develop new insights and fresh perspectives for curing HIV.
“I am honoured and excited to be part of this consortium, in which we will collectively strive for advancement in global HIV cure research,” says Giulia Sinatti. “After 20 years of engagement with what facilitates transnational collaborations in the field of migration and development, I am eager to put this experience and knowledge to the service of a, for me, new field and support the HIV cure agenda. I look forward to working collaboratively toward this goal with many inspiring consortium colleagues!”
The social sciences will play a pivotal role in the project consortium, in which biomedical partners represent the majority. Sinatti: “Developing safe, affordable, and accessible HIV cure strategies urgently requires biomedical research collaborations across geographic boundaries. Most HIV cure research is in fact based in the global North, while most people living with HIV reside in Africa.”
That’s why social sciences are so important for this project. Social scientists will map the key stakeholders, the meanings they assign to HIV cure and the relations between them. “Social scientists will also analyse how research institutions in sub-Saharan Africa and the Netherlands work together, as collaboration is essential to advance a truly global HIV cure.” By analysing these collaborations while they unfold in the SPIRAL project, the social sciences aim to provide real-time insights that can be used to adapt research strategies and finetune interventions.
For more information on the project, read the article on the NWO website.