Dr. Cameron Abrams (PI), Associate Professor of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and Dr. Irwin Chaiken (Co-I), Professor of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, DUCOM, have been awarded an R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health for a project titled, “Chimeric Virucides Based on a Novel Theory of Viral Metastability.” The goal of this project is to develop a new class of molecular virucidal agents against HIV that act by binding to the viral surface in a particular way to “trick” the virus into releasing its genetic payload before attaching to and infecting a target cell. The project combines computational molecular design and “wet chemistry” in a coordinated effort. The budget for this four-year project is $1,340,000.