September 19, 2018 | Nora Samaranayake
![](/media/som/microsites/ihv/images/news/SOM-1323x713-gallo5.jpg)
In partnership with the National Institutes of Health and Amygdala Neurosciences, IHV will test a therapeutic that may prevent craving and relapse for patients with opioid use disorder
The Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine will lead a $12 million dollar project to improve the morbidity and mortality of people with opioid use disorder (OUD). Utilizing a novel compound, IHV researches will implement a series of investigations, entitled SEARCH, to evaluate the underlying mechanisms of craving reduction as a strategy to prevent opioid misuse, dependence, and relapse. The grant is awarded through the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) Initiative, made possible through groundbreaking funding from the U.S. Congress.
“We are pleased to have the opportunity through Dr. Shyam Kottilil’s terrific team here at the Institute to meaningfully address the critical issue of addiction,” said Robert Gallo, MD, The Homer and Martha Gudelsky Distinguished Professor in Medicine, co-founder and director, Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and co-founder and director, Global Virus Network. “Dr. Kottilil and I recently published an op-ed in The Baltimore Sun outlining the importance of better equipping infectious disease specialists to concomitantly treat substance use disorders. This grant is an important step in doing just that.”
“My colleague, Senator Elizabeth Warren and I, introduced legislation this past spring to significantly boost federal funding to combat the rising opioid crisis in the U.S., which leads to tens of thousands of deaths each year,” said U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings (D-Md.). “Baltimore City, one of the hardest hit communities in this national crisis, is a prime location for these clinical trials. I am pleased that the NIH recognizes that the IHV, with its vast expertise, is well-positioned to lead these trials and begin to address the opioid epidemic devastating cities and towns across the nation.”
Nationally, 64,000 Americans died from opioid overdose in 2016, surpassing peak HIV-related deaths at the height of the HIV epidemic. Maryland has one of the fastest rising rates of opioid overdose death in the nation, from 17.7 deaths per 100,000 individuals in 2015, to 30 deaths per 100,000 individuals in 2016. In Baltimore, it is estimated that 11% of Baltimore City residents have a substance use disorder, which underscores the staggering drug overdose death rate of 112.9 deaths per 100,000 individuals in 2016. In 2016, 454 people died as a result of heroin overdose, outpacing the number of homicide-related deaths in the same year.
The investigational agent, ANS-6637, developed by Amygdala Neurosciences, is a selective ALDH2 Inhibitor that may prevent pathophysiologic dopamine surge and associated craving, without changes to basal dopamine. Given the role of craving in the cycle of addiction and relapse, this drug has the potential to be used as pharmacotherapy for any substance and behavior-based addiction.
“We are pleased to partner with the NIH to test this novel therapeutic in our research clinics, with the hope that we can help people living with substance use disorder better manage their disease,” said Shyam Kottilil, MBBS, PhD, professor of medicine, director, Division of Clinical Care & Research, Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
The six-year project comprises a comprehensive series of investigations led by IHV faculty. The initial investigation, a pre-clinical study of pharmacokinetics, will be conducted at the NIH in collaboration with NIH investigators. Subsequently, the IHV will lead a series of phase II investigations at research sites spanning Washington DC and Baltimore, to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ANS-6637 to reduce craving, drug use, and the risk of comorbid conditions including hepatitis C and HIV.
“While there are evidence-based strategies to reduce harm in individuals with OUD, including medication assisted treatment and syringe exchange, craving remains a major impediment to sobriety,” said Sarah Kattakuzhy, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “The SEARCH investigations will evaluate a new therapeutic mechanism of action, which if successful, could be part of a comprehensive therapeutic strategy that addresses both the physical and psychological symptoms of addiction. The SEARCH program will build upon our research expertise in high throughput phase II investigations, and our experience in hepatitis C treatment and harm reduction in persons with OUD, helping to take clinical care of this marginalized population into the future.”
Learn More:
University of Maryland Virus Institute Joins Hunt for Opioid Treatment
September 19, 2018
By: Meredith Cohn, Contact Reporter
The Baltimore Sun
Robert Gallo: Use HIV Lessons to Stem Opioid Epidemic
August 6, 2018
By: Robert Gallo and Shyam Kottilil
The Baltimore Sun
About the Institute of Human Virology
Formed in 1996 as a partnership between the State of Maryland, the City of Baltimore, the University System of Maryland and the University of Maryland Medical System, IHV is an institute of the University of Maryland School of Medicine and is home to some of the most globally-recognized and world-renowned experts in all of virology. The IHV combines the disciplines of basic research, epidemiology and clinical research in a concerted effort to speed the discovery of diagnostics and therapeutics for a wide variety of chronic and deadly viral and immune disorders - most notably, HIV the virus that causes AIDS. For more information, www.ihv.org and follow us on Twitter @IHVmaryland.
Contact
Institute of Human Virology
Jennifer Gonzales
Public Relations & Communications Manager
jennifer.gonzales@ihv.umaryland.edu
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Monday, December 03, 2018
Institute of Human Virology Names Dr. Man Charurat as Director of the Center for International Health, Education, and Biosecurity
The Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine today announced the appointment of Man E. Charurat, PhD, MHS, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Epidemiology and Prevention at the IHV as the Director of IHV’s Center for International Health, Education, and Biosecurity (CIHEB). Dr. Charurat will replace Deus Bazira, DrPH, MPH, MBA. The announcement was made by Robert C. Gallo, MD, The Homer & Martha Gudelsky Distinguished Professor in Medicine, Co-Founder and Director of the IHV, and Co-Founder and Director of the Global Virus Network (GVN).
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Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Institute of Human Virology Hosts 20th Annual International Meeting of Top Medical Virus Researchers in Baltimore, Maryland
The Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine yesterday commenced IHV’s 20th Annual International Meeting, to be held through Thursday, October, 25 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. This year, among other viral and cancer related topics, the meeting is holding special sessions on the 40th anniversary of the first human retrovirus, Human T cell Leukemia Virus (HTLV), and the 15th anniversary of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). IHV’s Annual International Meeting attracts hundreds of elite scientists who descend upon Baltimore to share ideas and inspire medical virus research collaborations.
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Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Dr. Robert Redfield, Co-Founder of the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, to Become CDC Director
The Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) congratulates its co-founder and associate director, Robert R. Redfield, MD, on his appointment to be the next director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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Tuesday, March 20, 2018
UMSOM Cancer Expert at Institute of Human Virology Named Fellow of American Society of Clinical Oncology
Clement A. Adebamowo, BM, ChB, ScD, FWACS, FACS, Associate Director of Population Science at the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), and Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health, Institute of Human Virology, has been named a 2018 Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
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Tuesday, December 12, 2017
A Statement from the Leadership of the Institute of Human Virology on the Passing of Stewart Greenebaum
The Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine mourns the passing of Stewart Greenebaum, a lifelong Baltimore resident, former president of Greenebaum and Rose Associates, and past chairman of the IHV Board of Advisors, as well as a guiding force in the establishment of the IHV at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
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Wednesday, November 29, 2017
To Mark World AIDS Day, Institute of Human Virology Releases Video on Dr. Robert Gallo
The Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) released a video on Dr. Robert Gallo, a trailblazer in HIV research, in advance of World AIDS Day, December 1. While many know Dr. Gallo for his pioneering work in AIDS research, the short video focuses on Dr. Gallo’s life and legacy in its entirety, including his pioneering discovery of human retroviruses.
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Tuesday, November 22, 2016
IHV Awarded $138M to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa & Launches Center for International Health, Education, & Biosecurity
The Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine announced today more than $138 million in multiple five-year grants awarded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to combat HIV/AIDS in Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, and Nigeria. The Institute concurrently announced the formation of the IHV Center for International Health, Education, & Biosecurity (CIHEB), and its newly appointed director, Deus Bazira Mubangizi, DrPH, MBA, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Director, Center for Health, Education, & Biosecurity, Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine.
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Tuesday, October 25, 2016
"A Call to End HIV/AIDS in America" IHV Director Dr. Robert Gallo's Op-Ed in the Huffington Post
As the new Administration is presented with great challenges facing the United States, one will be a longtime foe, the U.S. HIV/AIDS epidemic. Since President Barack Obama was elected in 2008, I have publicly called on our country’s leaders to utilize the largest global health initiative in history - the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) - as a model to address the U.S. epidemic.
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Monday, August 22, 2016
Institute of Human Virology (IHV) Awarded $14.4M for HIV Vaccine Research
The Institute of Human Virology (IHV) announced a $14.4M grant from NIAID to advance HIV vaccine research to solve a major challenge: produce long-lasting antibodies to protect against HIV infection.
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Wednesday, April 13, 2016
IHV Releases Data Supporting Community-Based Treatment Providers in Fight Against Hepatitis C
The Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine released data today at The International Liver Congress 2016 in Barcelona, Spain demonstrating that treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) can be provided safely and effectively within a community-based and non-specialist setting.
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Thursday, March 10, 2016
UM SOM Establishes Two Endowed Professorships Through Private Gifts and Matching State Funds
University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, announced today that the School has been awarded matching funds from the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) as part of the Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative Fund program. The funds, when combined with private philanthropy, will enable UM SOM to establish two new endowed professorships – one in human virology and vaccine development, the other in surgical science and entrepreneurship.
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Tuesday, December 01, 2015
A Statement from the Leadership of the Institute of Human Virology on World AIDS Day
Research enabled treatment to be developed for HIV/AIDS, allowing the Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (which Dr. Gallo heads and co-founded with his colleagues Drs. William Blattner and Robert Redfield) to develop a promising HIV vaccine candidate, treat nearly 6,000 patients annually in Baltimore, and care for more than 1 million people in Africa and the Caribbean since 2004.
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Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Institute of Human Virology Hosts International Meeting of Prominent AIDS Researchers
The Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine is hosting IHV’s 17th Annual International Meeting Sunday, September 27 through Wednesday, September 30 at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland.