The HIV Vaccine Trials Network, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a part of the NIH, today launched a new HIV awareness campaign and the Red Ribbon Registry with the goal of helping end HIV. Built by Oracle, the unique cloud-based registry makes it easy for anyone to volunteer to be considered for an HIV clinical study—getting us one step closer to a cure. To learn more or volunteer for an HIV clinical study visit https://www.helpendhiv.org/

The registry expands on Oracle’s work with the NIH and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Oracle developed the COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN) Volunteer Screening Registry that was used to capture and analyze nearly 700,000 participant registrations for COVID-19 vaccine and therapeutics clinical studies in just six months.

“The urgency to find answers to COVID-19 completely changed how the industry approached clinical studies,” said Mike Sicilia, executive vice president of Oracle Industries. “We were able to break down the traditional study silos to work in a public/private partnership to crowd-source volunteers—anyone, from anywhere in the U.S.—that ultimately helped get a vaccine to market in less than a year. This is the future of clinical research, and we are taking all we learned and built during COVID-19 and applying it to other public health issues, like HIV.”

Bringing COVID-19 lessons to the HIV fight

The Red Ribbon Registry aims to bring the same technological innovation and urgency of the COVID-19 response to the global search for a preventive HIV vaccine, improved therapeutics, and a cure. It’s estimated that more than 700,000 people have died from HIV-related illnesses in the U.S., with approximately 1.2 million people living with HIV today, and nearly 40,000 new diagnoses each year. Globally, more than 35 million people have died from HIV. With the Oracle Digital Recruitment cloud technology, the program will initially support dozens of clinical trial sites across the U.S. that are actively recruiting volunteers for HIV treatment and prevention studies.

Using Oracle Digital Recruitment anyone can volunteer for a study from their desktop or mobile device. Authorized researchers can then use this information to analyze volunteer data, contact individuals best suited to participate, and match them to a clinical study. Using the engagement tools in the system, organizers can easily share information and keep participants apprised of next steps or other potential opportunities.

“While HIV awareness has taken a back seat in recent years, much of the progress and success of the COVID-19 vaccines was on the shoulders of HIV vaccine research,” said Jim Kublin, M.D., M.P.H., and Principal Staff Scientist in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division of Fred Hutch. “Continuing our work with Oracle during the COVID-19 pandemic and building on the success of the registry approach is an example of giving back to the HIV research community for the foundational work on COVID-19. We want to ensure that we’re doing all we can to continue the momentum gained from tremendous enthusiasm of the public to participate in COVID-19 research and making people aware that there are options for them to help fight these debilitating diseases and be better prepared for future pandemics.”

For more information on how Oracle is working with the U.S. and governments around the world on COVID-19 and other public health issues, visit: https://www.oracle.com/corporate/covid-19/mission/ or learn more about how you can help end HIV at https://www.helpendhiv.org/.