Long-term non-progressors--international study recruiting.

A small fraction of people control HIV well, without needing antiretrovirals. If scientists knew how this worked, they might be able to develop entirely new treatments to enable others to do the same--possibly a major advance for individual treatment, and also for ending the epidemic.

The Elite HIV Controller Study is collecting a single blood sample from long-term nonprogressors anywhere. They will analyze the blood to look for genetic or other differences that might help explain how these people stay healthy.

To be eligible, you must be from ages 18 to 75, have a viral load below 2000 without taking HIV medications, and give informed consent. Although the project is based at Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital, the blood can be drawn locally so there is no need to travel to the study site.

For more information, see the study's Web page, http://www.mgh.harvard.edu/aids/hiv_elite_controllers.asp.