Accounting for genetic diversity in HIV|AIDS treatment in sub-Saharan Africa

Collen Masimirembwa, PhD, and his team at the African Institute of Biomedical Sciences and Technology (AiBST) in Zimbabwe have determined that the unique genetic make-up of sub-Saharan Africans was responsible for the relatively low success rate of drug treatments for HIV/AIDS.

His research revealed that the treatment model employed around the world was based on the unique genetics of Caucasians in Europe and North America, and that sub-Saharan Africans metabolically respond very differently to the same drug, often creating side-effects that discourage patients from continuing with treatment.

With the help of SPARKGlobal, an initiative started by Stanford Medicine's Daria Mochly-Rosen, PhD, Masimirembwa's team was able to develop an assay to identify the genetics of metabolizing this drug and to come up with a clinical trial to prove how efficacious altering the treatment dosage to accommodate the difference might be.

To learn more about SPARKGlobal, visit

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