More than 200 bicycle riders are expected to participate in the annual two-day, 200-mile AIDS Vaccine 200 (AV200) to benefit AIDS vaccine research at the Emory Vaccine Center. The event on May 18-19 is sponsored by Action Cycling Atlanta – a volunteer-run organization. This year's ride travels from Emory to Eatonton, Ga. in the Oconee National Forest and back to Emory. Participants will include individual riders and relay teams, with support from a volunteer crew.

This marks the 11th year of the AV200, which thus far has raised more than $1 million for AIDS vaccine research. Thanks to its generous sponsors, Action Cycling Atlanta is able to donate 100 percent of all funds raised by participants to AIDS vaccine research. These unrestricted funds fill funding gaps that cannot be met through grant dollars alone.

"An effective AIDS vaccine is still a critical need in the fight against this challenging disease around the world," says Rafi Ahmed, PhD, director of the Emory Vaccine Center, a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar and Charles Howard Candler Professor of Microbiology and Immunology. The funds from this ride enable our scientists to continue to make groundbreaking advances in understanding the immune system's response to viruses and vaccines and help bring us closer to a vaccine that can prevent and treat HIV infection."

The Emory Vaccine Center is the largest and most comprehensive academic vaccine center in the world and is renowned for its expertise in cellular immunity and immune memory. A few of the projects that have been supported by Action Cycling's annual AV200 include:

• Development of one of the world's first preventive HIV/AIDS vaccines, currently being tested in phase II clinical trials, and the only HIV vaccine for America/Europe entering efficacy trials.
• Supporting novel strategies and the next generation of HIV researchers by funding research of the AV200 Fellows.
• Innovative discoveries about the immune system leading to new strategies designed to fight chronic infections like HIV/AIDS.
• Testing of potential HIV/AIDS vaccines at The Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center in Atlanta as as one of the largest test sites of the prestigious National Institutes of Health HIV Vaccine Trials Network.
• At the Vaccine Center's satellite campus in New Delhi, development of an HIV/AIDS vaccine designed specifically for the clade-C strain of HIV that is prevalent in India.

For more information about the AV200 bicycle ride, to register, or to donate, visit http://www.actioncycling.org

For more information about the Emory Vaccine Center, visit http://vaccines.emory.edu