Founded in 2011 and led by Drs. Keith Jerome and Hans-Peter Kiem at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the defeatHIV Martin Delaney Collaboratory is a consortium of scientific investigators and clinicians from both public and private research organizations who are committed to finding a cure for HIV. We are supported through a program sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease in honor of AIDS activist Martin Delaney. This program, called the Martin Delaney Collaboratory: Towards an HIV-1 Cure, focuses on providing support for HIV research strategies that are curative and fosters partnerships between public and private research organizations. defeatHIV is one of only three funded Martin Delaney Collaboratories, which also include the Collaboratory of AIDS Researchers for Eradication (CARE) based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the Delaney AIDS Research Enterprise (DARE) at the University of California, San Francisco.

As a Martin Delaney Collaboratory program, we are inspired to re-examine existing approaches in the fight against HIV/AIDS and to focus our energies on developing innovative and novel strategies to abrogate the spread of this debilitating disease. Our core technologies utilize the latest cell and genome engineering approaches to create HIV-resistant cells for transplant, and to develop rare-cutting endonucleases that may seek out and destroy HIV in its hiding places throughout the body.

It is our mission to leverage the knowledge, expertise and resources of the consortium to generate a realistic and promising pathway toward an HIV cure.

To learn more about our HIV cure efforts, visit defeatHIV.org.

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center was established in 1975 and is one of the world’s leading cancer research institutes. Its interdisciplinary teams of scientists conduct research throughout the world to advance the prevention, early detection and treatment of cancer and other diseases. Fred Hutch's mission is the elimination of cancer and related diseases as causes of human suffering and death. Fred Hutch researchers pioneered bone-marrow transplantation for leukemia and other blood diseases. This research has cured thousands of patients worldwide and has boosted survival rates for certain forms of leukemia from zero to as high as 85 percent. Recognizing that infectious agents contribute to up to a quarter of the world’s cancers, Fred Hutch researchers also study infectious diseases, including HIV- and AIDS-related malignancies. Fred Hutch’s internationally acclaimed scientists include three Nobel Laureates, a MacArthur fellow, seven members of the National Academy of Sciences, five members of the Institute of Medicine, six members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 11 members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and eight current and former Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators.

Fred Hutch occupies modern facilities on the 15-acre Robert W. Day Campus. The campus overlooks South Lake Union, Seattle's downtown lakefront neighborhood, which is emerging as Seattle's hub for life sciences research organizations. Campus labs and offices occupy about 1.5 million square feet. More than 2,825 people work for Fred Hutch, including more than 200 scientific faculty and more than 570 pre-doctoral and post-doctoral researchers and other scientific staff.

Fred Hutch is consistently among the top NCI-funded academic and research institutes and is ranked first in National Institutes of Health funding among all U.S. independent research institutions.

The focus of the Curative Therapies for HIV (Cure) Scientific Working Group is to accelerate work toward a cure for HIV, by linking local investigators of curative therapies for HIV to the comprehensive UW/FHCRC CFAR. Additionally, we strive to connect Seattle investigators with international leaders in the field, in order to develop critical local expertise and enhance areas of local strength. These collective activities have helped establish an international center of excellence in the study of curative therapies for HIV at the UW/FHCRC CFAR.

The Cure Scientific Working Group leverages a large NIH investment in the Seattle-led consortium defeatHIV, one of three Martin Delaney Collaboratories focused on the cure of HIV. The Cure Scientific Working Group synergizes with CFAR to utilize expertise in the clinical, basic science, and developmental cores, t to develop novel research questions for the study of curative therapies for HIV.

To learn more, please visit the UW/FHCRC CFAR Cure Scientific Working Group website.

The University of Washington Virology Division is one of ten divisions that comprise the Department of Laboratory Medicine in the University’s School of Medicine.  The Virology Division’s thirteen faculty members and over 100 staff are actively engaged in the Department's three-fold mission of clinical service, education, and research.

The Division performs clinical diagnostic testing for a full range of human pathogens including Herpes group, HIV, respiratory, and enteric viruses.   Techniques used are molecular PCR diagnostics and sequencing for both standard pathogens and esoteric or non-culturable viruses, tissue culture with direct antigen detection, and serological assays such as Western blot for HSV types 1 and 2.  The patient care services provided exemplify the highest achievable quality and serve as a model of excellence for other clinical virology laboratories across the nation.

As part of the School of Medicine, educational opportunities are available for undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral trainees within the Virology Division.   UW Medicine teaching programs are ranked among the best in the country in the 2013 rankings by U.S. News & World Report.

An environment conducive to the performance of high quality research and development is fostered within the Division.  The faculty, staff, and trainees are involved in research and development activities that include developing the latest laboratory tests, creating new vaccines, inventing and patenting new technology, and elucidating basic cellular processes in health and disease.  The Division’s faculty are internationally recognized for their clinical and basic science research.