Researcher secures grant for HIV research

An HIV/Aids researcher has received a share of $100 million (£61 million) for coming up with an unorthodox study.

Health professionals have been awarded grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for showing novel approaches to HIV/Aids research.

They included demonstrating how their research fell outside of scientific norms in a bid to find new ways to combat the virus, according to Rochester Business Journal.

Professor Harold Smith of the department of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of Rochester Medical Center was among scientists in 22 countries to receive funding.

He has received a $100,000 to conduct research that has been so far been kept under wraps.

The professor revealed the money would be spent on investigating viral resistance to current Aids medication.

Professor Smith said: "Patients must regularly switch medications as their infection becomes resistant and take treatment breaks as side effects become too punishing, which only further encourages viral resistance."

In total 105 grants were issued, which will help further research for tuberculosis as well as HIV/Aids.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is an altruistic body set up by the founder of the Microsoft empire.

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