Progress in HIV/AIDS Research and Treatment

The ties to HIV/AIDS research at St. Jude began long before the first U.S. case was identified in 1981. In the early 1970s, Walter Hughes, MD, a pioneering St. Jude scientist, found a way to prevent a disease that threatened the lives of immune-compromised leukemia patients, Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia. He screened more than 30 compounds before discovering the right drug combination to prevent the deadly infection—a finding that would later play an important role in the fight against HIV.

In 1987, St. Jude founder Danny Thomas proclaimed that HIV/AIDS should be part of the St. Jude mission. Later studies by Hughes showed the drug had the same effect in individuals with HIV/AIDS, for whom Pneumocystis was the most frequent cause of death. Today, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole is used when treating and preventing pneumonia in the millions of people worldwide with HIV/AIDS.

“From the early days of St. Jude, Danny was supportive of HIV/AIDS care and research because it’s such a catastrophic disease for young kids, and we’ve been making progress ever since,” says Pat Flynn , MD, Arthur Ashe Chair in Pediatric AIDS Research.

For years, St. Jude has been the only comprehensive care center for HIV treatment in children and youth in Memphis. Through the decades, the hospital’s research and treatment efforts have contributed to far lower rates of the virus passing from pregnant mothers to their babies. The focus now is to replicate such gains in youth.

“We’re known as a good clinical trials site and. Through relationships we have with other institutions and companies, St. Jude often gets selected to be a site for HIV/AIDS trials,” Flynn says. “Being able to do these clinical trials in partnerships across the country has made them available to our patients.”

Progress has been made in HIV/AIDS treatment and research—from more effective drugs to implementation of PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) to better coordination of patient care and testing. “But we are still seeing new infections,” Flynn adds. “There’s more work to be done about prevention and medical adherence. We need to keep pushing the envelope.”

To end the HIV epidemic, it is imperative to prevent new infections, as well as to make sure those who are HIV-positive receive ongoing retroviral therapy. Those individuals, and those at-risk for becoming infected with the HIV virus, are the focus of the Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America initiative. The effort is coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and St. Jude participates in the program. The goal is to have zero new HIV cases in Memphis by 2030.

“HIV research has come a long way, but continues to be a disease that, if untreated, can be catastrophic,” says Aditya Gaur , MD, Infectious Diseases clinical director. “What we and this coalition do fits perfectly with the St. Jude mission.”

Another barrier for patients when it comes to continuation of treatment is the prejudice or discrimination some patients still face. “There is still a lot of perceived and actual stigma with HIV infection,” Flynn says. “At St. Jude, we work closely with the community to provide education about stigma. I feel it’s an important role we play.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Flynn says there have been delays in HIV testing and prevention measures. “Public health services are really the first layer of protection and detection for HIV, so during the pandemic all resources were understandably focused on that. We must now try to get back on track.”

What does the future look like in this field? “We’re always looking for that elusive cure, Flynn says. “We have better medications, medication adherence and education across the spectrum, but we as a field never take our minds off of cure.”

Learn more about HIV/AIDS treatment and research at St. Jude. www.stjude.org/HIV

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