UNL professor granted millions for HIV vaccine research

By Mary Regli

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    LINCOLN, Nebraska (KETV) — A virologist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Qingsheng Li, was awarded $3.5 million to advance his work on a vaccine to prevent HIV.

“We strongly believe that, actually, a vaccine is going to be a very cost-effective means to stop this pandemic,” Li said.

Right now, there is medication for managing HIV, but no cure for it.

If Li’s project succeeds, he would be the first to develop an effective vaccine to prevent HIV.

“I’m not sure this can resolve the problem, but I think it’s a good step forward,” Li said.

Li will spend the next five years working on developing the HIV vaccine, using monkeys as his test subjects.

The Nebraska AIDS Project here in Benson provides community support and resources in order to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS here in Nebraska. They say Li’s project will be extremely beneficial for the HIV/AIDS community.

“We have a lot of good, you know, treatment options out there for people who are living with HIV, but the end goal is, you know, to be able to provide a cure at some point in someone’s lifetime,” said Tommy Calloway, the community outreach coordinator for the Nebraska AIDS Project.

Although Nebraska typically has low case numbers, the group says they’ve noticed a surge in recent years.

“2021 actually marked a 10-year high for us,” Calloway said.

They believe Li’s project can boost awareness and prevent the virus by helping to lower those surging numbers.

“Having this research right here in the heart of Nebraska, I think that says a lot about just kind of where we are at as a medical and research community,” Calloway said.

Both Li and the Nebraska AIDS project hope this research will get us closer to eradicating the virus.

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