The HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/Division of AIDS (NIAID/DAIDS) and Janssen Vaccines and Prevention are pleased to announce a call for proposals from researchers interested in requesting use of Imbokodo/HVTN 705 participant specimens and/or study data to conduct independent scientific studies. Although the Imbokodo investigational vaccine regimen did not provide protection in young women at high likelihood of HIV acquisition in sub-Saharan Africa (vaccine efficacy [VE] point estimate of 14.1% with a CI that crossed zero), research is ongoing to investigate associations between VE and biomarkers of both humoral and cellular immunity (Kenny et al. 2022). The Imbokodo trial design included extensive, longitudinal sampling for serum and PBMC, among other specimen types that can be requested. Please note that there is no designated funding associated with this RFP. 

Important Dates:

• All proposals submitted by the end of the initial Request for Proposals (RFP) application period on April 4, 2023 will be reviewed in parallel in case of overlapping research aims or limited specimen availability.
• Thereafter, proposals with later submission dates will be reviewed on the basis of when they are received and following review of all proposals received by April 4, 2023.