March 24, 2006

Feeney receives Glaser Scientist Award

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation recently named Margaret Feeney, MD, of the Partners AIDS Research Center, a recipient of the 2006 Elizabeth Glaser Scientist Award — the foundation's highest scientific honor. Award winners are selected on the basis of their scientific knowledge, innovation and dedication and each receives a five-year research grant worth up to nearly $683,000.

Feeney (at right) plans to use the award to study the differences between HIV-infected infants whose bodies are able to control the virus well from an early age versus those who progress rapidly to AIDS. The study will build upon an existing collaboration with a perinatal AIDS program in Kingston, Jamaica.

"Although there is public perception that pediatric AIDS is no longer a major problem, nearly 2,000 infants are infected each day," says Feeney. "My team and I are studying how the immune response to HIV differs between infants and adults to ensure future vaccines are as effective as possible in infants.