A team of researchers from the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases has received a 3.5 million dollar grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is a part of the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Audrey Pettifor, assistant professor of epidemiology in the public health school and the study’s co-author, says they will study HIV prevention methods among people with acute HIV infection.

The study will be conducted at UNC Project, a research, care, and training facility in the African country of Malawi.  Pettifor says it is very difficult to find patients in the 12-week window associated with acute HIV infection.  Though the study will look at 90 patients, she only expects a handful of participants each month.

Pettifor says the study will analyze three different approaches.

The study is expected to take about 4 years to complete.