The Legacy Project

Who are we?
The HVTN Legacy Project works to increase the participation of people of color in HIV vaccine trials to make sure the vaccine works for the populations most affected by the virus.

The project also hopes to provide insight on the impact of historic health disparities and comorbidities to HIV risk. In order to build a legacy of trust the Legacy Project fosters partnerships that can impact HIV vaccine clinical trials conduct.

In the struggle to create an HIV vaccine, the products tested have not protected against HIV infection. There have been so few African Americans and Hispanics in the studies that even if the vaccine had shown promise, scientists would not have been able to know how effective it would be for these racial and ethnic groups. Studies must have enough representation from each subgroup.

To create an effective vaccine for all people, the types and numbers of HIV vaccine research participants must be based on a formula that reflects each group's level of risk and HIV infection rates. In studies conducted by the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) to date, 30.6 percent of volunteers were Black and only 5.3 percent were Hispanic. These numbers are not adequate to accurately assess the effectiveness of any vaccine candidate on these communities.

The Legacy Project's goal is to increase the participation of African Americans and Hispanics in HIV vaccine studies. We are committed to building bridges of trust to overcome the misinformation that threatens the effective search for a vaccine that could end the AIDS pandemic. We are committed to building a legacy of trust.

We can be reached at legacy@hvtn.org.