DEVELOPMENT OF A RAPID, QUANTITATIVE HIV-1 ASSAY FOR VIRAL LOAD SELF-MONITORING

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is a critical tool for the treatment and prevention of human immunodeficiencyvirus (HIV) infection. Although ART does not provide a true “cure”, lifelong adherence to ART achieves viralsuppression to levels that prevent vertical transmission, preserve healthy immune function, and improvehealth outcomes. Optimal adherence to daily ART medication is highly challenging, however, and relativelyshort lapses in adherence can lead to the development of viral resistance, which compromises the treatmentoptions available to the patient and ultimately endangers their health. Non-adherence to ART is consideredthe strongest predictor of poor clinical outcomes for people living with HIV. Accessible and affordable toolsfor regular viral load monitoring are needed to empower people taking ART for both viral suppression andpre-exposure prophylaxis to have more control over their own health care and detect failures in viralsuppression as early as possible. Our proposed technology will measure HIV-1 viral load from patientcollectedwhole blood using a portable analyzer, single-use cartridges, and a simple user workflowdesigned for patients ................and non-technical staff in clinics and other decentralized settings.