Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Accelerating HIV Research and Funding Medical Innovation with Kyle Clifford

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Accelerating HIV Research and Funding Medical Innovation with Kyle Clifford · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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  - It's the kind of event you leave with
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  - a clear sense of where you stand and
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  - what comes next.
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  - So join us November second through the fifth
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  - at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago,
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  - Register on our events page at beckershospitalreview.com
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  - upper right.
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  - This is Scott Becker with the Beckers Healthcare
• 1:01
  - Podcast.
• 1:02
  - We're thrilled today to be joined by Kyle
• 1:04
  - Clifford.
• 1:05
  - Kyle's the CEO of AmFAR.
• 1:07
  - He's gonna talk to us about what they
• 1:09
  - do, how they do it, how important this
• 1:11
  - is, and a lot more.
• 1:14
  - Kyle, can I ask you to take a
• 1:15
  - moment and introduce yourself?
• 1:18
  - Well, thank you, Scott. And it's great to
• 1:20
  - have an opportunity to tell you a little
• 1:21
  - bit about myself
• 1:23
  - and what we do here, far in the
• 1:25
  - role that we play.
• 1:27
  - So I'm very fortunate to be in the
• 1:28
  - role as CEO
• 1:30
  - in AMFAR. I've been here,
• 1:32
  - a little over six and a half years,
• 1:34
  - and I stepped up into the seat as
• 1:36
  - CEO
• 1:37
  - in,
• 1:38
  - January.
• 1:40
  - And
• 1:41
  - very proud to say that,
• 1:43
  - I am in fact, in the context of
• 1:45
  - our mission, which is to find a cure
• 1:47
  - for HIV,
• 1:48
  - I am AmfAR's first openly HIV
• 1:52
  - positive CEO. For so for me showing up
• 1:54
  - for work every day,
• 1:55
  - I do still feel with immense amount of
• 1:57
  - gratitude. You're probably gonna hopefully hear this in
• 1:59
  - this conversation, how lucky I am to be
• 2:01
  - alive. I'm a living testament to the fact
• 2:04
  - that the science that we fund
• 2:06
  - has an impact on lives,
• 2:08
  - and I'm very grateful to be leading this
• 2:10
  - incredibly talented team. What we do at AMFAR
• 2:13
  - is very unique.
• 2:15
  - Firstly,
• 2:16
  - maybe to give it some context
• 2:18
  - on
• 2:19
  - how were we were founded and who founded
• 2:21
  - us and why.
• 2:23
  - We've been around since 1985,
• 2:25
  - and we were founded by two
• 2:28
  - visionary female leaders, doctor Matilde Crim
• 2:31
  - and the iconic Elizabeth Taylor, who themselves had
• 2:35
  - two separate foundations
• 2:37
  - that were seeking to respond
• 2:39
  - to the AIDS epidemic
• 2:41
  - and the chronic loss of life back in
• 2:43
  - the early eighties. And they both joined forces,
• 2:47
  - to create AMFAR in 1985.
• 2:50
  - And our
• 2:51
  - mission,
• 2:52
  - has always been simple, which is to fund
• 2:56
  - research,
• 2:57
  - and fund research in labs across the world
• 3:00
  - that is trying to find a range of
• 3:01
  - solutions
• 3:03
  - previously to treat, to figure out what was
• 3:05
  - going on with this virus,
• 3:07
  - to stop the virus spreading.
• 3:10
  - And and our research that we have funded
• 3:12
  - and our response to the research,
• 3:15
  - that we fund has varied as the epidemic
• 3:18
  - has varied and changed over time. So,
• 3:21
  - our primary goal,
• 3:22
  - will always be to find a cure for
• 3:24
  - HIV.
• 3:25
  - We're getting closer. That's the good news.
• 3:28
  - But the the uniqueness of what we do
• 3:30
  - at AMFAR as an independent foundation
• 3:33
  - in the healthcare space is we fund
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  - early
• 3:37
  - stage ideas.
• 3:38
  - And so if you're a researcher
• 3:41
  - in any lab across the world and you've
• 3:43
  - got a bold and innovative idea,
• 3:45
  - you might be struggling with a little bit
• 3:47
  - of internal bureaucracy,
• 3:49
  - might be difficult to get people to make
• 3:51
  - decisions to fund you, you come to AmfAR
• 3:54
  - because we
• 3:55
  - we wanna hear the smartest ideas from the
• 3:57
  - most talented researchers around the world.
• 4:01
  - And we host grant rounds,
• 4:03
  - we're constantly talking to researchers,
• 4:05
  - and we're looking to fund innovative research. How
• 4:08
  - best I describe what we do in AMFAR
• 4:10
  - and the research space is, you know, Scott,
• 4:12
  - you'll always remember that first person who believed
• 4:14
  - in you. That first person whether it was
• 4:16
  - a teacher,
• 4:18
  - you know, sports coach, it was the bank
• 4:20
  - manager who gave you your first loan,
• 4:22
  - and that launched you, that's exactly what we
• 4:24
  - do at AMFIRE. We launch ideas, and so
• 4:27
  - we have been funding
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  - early stage,
• 4:31
  - research concepts across the world since 1985,
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  - and we've
• 4:35
  - given close to a billion dollars.
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  - And we raise all of our money through
• 4:39
  - private philanthropy.
• 4:41
  - We're a global organization.
• 4:43
  - And and on a daily basis, I get
• 4:45
  - to show up for work, not only working
• 4:47
  - side by side with a talented team here
• 4:49
  - at AMFAR,
• 4:51
  - but also, we get to work on a
• 4:52
  - daily basis with this incredible network of researchers
• 4:56
  - that are doing incredible work in not just
• 4:59
  - HIV, but in other viral disease areas and
• 5:01
  - other chronic disease areas. So,
• 5:04
  - that is kind of the role that we
• 5:05
  - play,
• 5:06
  - and the impact that we're having. And so
• 5:08
  - it's a very exciting time
• 5:10
  - in science as you know,
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  - and medicine, and
• 5:14
  - exciting opportunities
• 5:15
  - for us here at AmfAR as well.
• 5:18
  - That is just simply remarkable.
• 5:20
  - And talk about
• 5:22
  - some of
• 5:23
  - the ideas that you funded, and where do
• 5:26
  - ideas come to from you to fund, or
• 5:28
  - or
• 5:29
  - how does that ecosystem work where you get
• 5:31
  - involved in different ideas of people trying to
• 5:33
  - cure HIV?
• 5:36
  - And the uniqueness of what AMFIRE did is
• 5:39
  - it's always allowed our researchers to be our
• 5:41
  - voice.
• 5:42
  - And and so,
• 5:44
  - my predecessor
• 5:45
  - and also,
• 5:47
  - colleagues before both of us,
• 5:49
  - would have convened different scientific consortiums
• 5:52
  - and symposiums over the years where we bring
• 5:55
  - the greatest
• 5:56
  - scientific minds together and
• 5:58
  - on a topic. Right? So in the context
• 6:00
  - of HIV, we'd have a few questions
• 6:02
  - that we think
• 6:04
  - might be worth funding and researching. But, really,
• 6:07
  - we want the researchers. Right? We want the
• 6:09
  - greatest minds,
• 6:10
  - subject matter experts in those areas to come
• 6:13
  - together
• 6:14
  - and to tell us what is the big
• 6:15
  - question that AMFAR wants to fund. And so
• 6:18
  - from early stages, we were the, you know,
• 6:20
  - first that were really funding research in HIV
• 6:24
  - and other viral disease areas that would have
• 6:26
  - been struggling
• 6:27
  - to get funding. And and kind of that
• 6:29
  - has been the uniqueness,
• 6:31
  - of what we do. It's really, it's in
• 6:33
  - consultation and in partnership with our global network
• 6:37
  - of researchers. And,
• 6:38
  - and it's been a very successful model for
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  - us. You know, we were one of the
• 6:42
  - first,
• 6:43
  - to be funding a whole host of innovative
• 6:45
  - research in HIV. And what we want to
• 6:48
  - do is just be planting those seeds,
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  - funding the research. Hopefully, it'll get picked up
• 6:53
  - by the NIH
• 6:54
  - or other larger,
• 6:56
  - institutional funders.
• 6:57
  - And and so we're all, focused on the
• 7:00
  - same goal, and we kinda play that really
• 7:02
  - unique early stage,
• 7:04
  - role. The the benefit of what we do
• 7:06
  - as an organization as well is that we
• 7:09
  - are
• 7:10
  - really kinda plugged in to what one might
• 7:12
  - call are the latest trends, right, from the
• 7:14
  - researchers,
• 7:15
  - or more importantly, what researchers are getting excited
• 7:18
  - about. So we also have a strong presence,
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  - at any of the annual,
• 7:23
  - global conferences that take place because we wanna
• 7:26
  - meet with the researchers one on one, hear
• 7:28
  - their ideas. And so that's what served us
• 7:31
  - well over the years on the research,
• 7:34
  - side of our growth and development.
• 7:36
  - And so at AMFAR,
• 7:37
  - people are always curious to know what are
• 7:39
  - you doing next? What's the next evolution for
• 7:42
  - AMFAR? Because normally, it's a real good indicator
• 7:45
  - as to where the opportunities lie for the
• 7:47
  - broader sense of the broader community. What makes
• 7:50
  - our model very unique is that we can
• 7:52
  - turn around our granting far quicker to the
• 7:54
  - researchers. So most researchers
• 7:57
  - can often find that the granting process is
• 8:00
  - too long. Right? Some can be waiting eighteen
• 8:01
  - months to get a reply.
• 8:03
  - Our granting cycle is three months.
• 8:06
  - We put p our grants and the review
• 8:08
  - that we
• 8:10
  - put our researchers have to go through, we
• 8:12
  - would argue is at the same or higher
• 8:14
  - standard than the NIH because we put in
• 8:16
  - particular a strong emphasis on scoring how innovative
• 8:20
  - the idea is.
• 8:22
  - And then we turn around our granting quickly.
• 8:24
  - We believe in the individual and the idea,
• 8:26
  - and we'll back it. But most importantly at
• 8:28
  - AMFA, we're incredibly comfortable with failure. You have
• 8:31
  - to fund
• 8:32
  - we believe in science. We believe in testing
• 8:35
  - ideas,
• 8:36
  - and we are kind of have our track
• 8:39
  - record speaks for itself.
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  - Talk about that. Because I I I love
• 8:43
  - what you just said about being comfortable knowing
• 8:45
  - that some are gonna win, some are gonna
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  - lose, but we have to fund a lot
• 8:49
  - of things to get the best ideas out
• 8:50
  - there and try and make progress. Talk about
• 8:53
  - that for a moment because I think that's
• 8:54
  - just such a beautiful perspective.
• 8:57
  - Sure. Well, you know, I think,
• 9:00
  - you know, it it's it is a it
• 9:02
  - is a whole ecosystem.
• 9:03
  - And so, obviously, what we do is never
• 9:06
  - going to,
• 9:08
  - in any way match nor should it what
• 9:10
  - it's possible for,
• 9:12
  - government entities like the NIH to do. Right?
• 9:14
  - Just the scale of funding and the scale
• 9:17
  - of funding power that those large funders do
• 9:19
  - have.
• 9:21
  - But, you know, at an early stage, whether
• 9:23
  - it was gene therapy, whether it was CAR
• 9:25
  - T cell therapy,
• 9:26
  - whether it was us looking we were one
• 9:28
  - of the first to look as well at
• 9:29
  - the science around mother to child transmission.
• 9:32
  - And so, really, at its core,
• 9:35
  - to answer your question, I think it's it's
• 9:38
  - rather than institutions defining
• 9:41
  - the best use of the funding,
• 9:43
  - what we have done is allowed our researchers
• 9:45
  - to decide the best use of our funding.
• 9:47
  - And that has kind of been how we
• 9:49
  - will
• 9:50
  - identify
• 9:52
  - great new opportunities. And so as we, as
• 9:55
  - an organization,
• 9:56
  - are expanding our mission,
• 9:58
  - obviously,
• 9:59
  - it's an opportunity for us to look at
• 10:01
  - other areas of research that are relevant not
• 10:04
  - only for for AMFAR, but for other chronic
• 10:06
  - illnesses as well. So we we're very proud
• 10:08
  - to say we just announced our very first
• 10:10
  - cancer specific research grant round,
• 10:13
  - which is a historic first for us.
• 10:15
  - This is also,
• 10:17
  - totally logical and makes sense. It is what
• 10:20
  - the research community has been telling us. The
• 10:22
  - reality of it is that thanks to the
• 10:25
  - treatments that are available right now, you have
• 10:26
  - an aging HIV positive population.
• 10:30
  - And, you know, if you look at it
• 10:32
  - right now, a third of people with HIV,
• 10:34
  - in 2025,
• 10:36
  - are over 50 years of age. Half of
• 10:39
  - the will be by 2040.
• 10:41
  - And so they are looking at other health
• 10:43
  - challenges. And a lot of people who are
• 10:45
  - HIV positive for a long term health HIV
• 10:47
  - positive,
• 10:48
  - you know, are, you know, they're part of
• 10:51
  - multidisciplinary
• 10:52
  - issues. Right? They're dealing with other issues, whether
• 10:55
  - it's cancers, heart disease.
• 10:57
  - And and so,
• 10:58
  - AMFAR for us, it's illogical. The researchers themselves
• 11:01
  - have spoken to AMFAR and said, look, you
• 11:03
  - know, there's some really interesting work, especially around
• 11:06
  - chronic inflammation.
• 11:08
  - Looking as well specifically on,
• 11:11
  - some areas of immunotherapy
• 11:13
  - in specific cancer areas that not only will
• 11:16
  - advance the research in those respective areas, but
• 11:20
  - more importantly will have a benefit back into
• 11:22
  - HIV research. So there is that what people
• 11:25
  - may not be aware, of course, and some
• 11:27
  - will listening to this podcast and others not,
• 11:29
  - is that there is that interconnection with HIV
• 11:32
  - as a long track record
• 11:34
  - of,
• 11:35
  - you know, discoveries in HIV
• 11:37
  - HIV having a benefit,
• 11:39
  - in other areas. And as I said other
• 11:41
  - earlier on, whether that was CAR T cell
• 11:43
  - therapy or checkpoint inhibitors,
• 11:46
  - long acting medications,
• 11:48
  - etcetera. So there is a ripple effect. There
• 11:50
  - is that connection between HIV and a whole
• 11:53
  - host of other,
• 11:54
  - chronic illnesses. And so that's an exciting new
• 11:57
  - area for us to fund is what I
• 11:59
  - would call is that connection
• 12:02
  - between other chronic illnesses. And so for AMFAR,
• 12:04
  - what we are going to do going forward
• 12:06
  - is stay focused on finding a cure for
• 12:09
  - HIV,
• 12:10
  - but also what we're going to do is
• 12:12
  - fund research, really innovative research,
• 12:15
  - where we know that viruses and the immune
• 12:17
  - system,
• 12:18
  - play a defining role. And one area,
• 12:21
  - of particular interest for us is immune dysfunction.
• 12:24
  - And so so yeah.
• 12:26
  - It's there's a lot happening. And so,
• 12:30
  - what we have the capacity to do as
• 12:33
  - an organization
• 12:34
  - is take the lead in because we have
• 12:36
  - direct access to the researchers is
• 12:39
  - we're we're able to do a lot of
• 12:40
  - firsts.
• 12:42
  - It it's amazing. And and would you think
• 12:43
  - of them as almost like seed grants? Or
• 12:45
  - how do you think about your initial grants
• 12:47
  - that you make to researchers? How how do
• 12:49
  - you characterize that?
• 12:51
  - Well, there I would call it nearly the
• 12:53
  - exactly. It's the what we do is nearly
• 12:56
  - the private venture, venture capital model in the
• 12:59
  - private sector, but we're not looking for a
• 13:01
  - return.
• 13:02
  - Our only hope and expectation is that the
• 13:05
  - discoveries will be shared and that will lead
• 13:07
  - that researcher,
• 13:09
  - or the research itself,
• 13:11
  - to grow and develop, get more funding, and
• 13:14
  - for more discoveries. And so it is exactly
• 13:16
  - that early stage seed funding is what we
• 13:19
  - are we provide.
• 13:21
  - And, you know, and and and at the
• 13:22
  - moment, when you see the amount of funding
• 13:24
  - cuts that are taking place nationally and internationally
• 13:27
  - in in research,
• 13:29
  - you know, we are seeing the demand. We've
• 13:30
  - had about a 20x
• 13:32
  - increase
• 13:33
  - in grant applications,
• 13:35
  - from researchers
• 13:36
  - across the world,
• 13:38
  - for a recent cancer,
• 13:40
  - grant round, immunotherapy
• 13:42
  - grant, research grant round, we would have expected
• 13:44
  - 60
• 13:45
  - high quality applications, and we received a 109,
• 13:49
  - high quality applications. So,
• 13:52
  - and so the demand is there. There's and
• 13:55
  - and and I think that's an opportunity for
• 13:56
  - us
• 13:58
  - to try and get out and engage with
• 13:59
  - as many new donors as we can, and
• 14:01
  - engage with as many new philanthropists as we
• 14:03
  - can, connect them with the researchers, connect them
• 14:06
  - with the research. And as I like to
• 14:07
  - say, the work we do at AMFAR
• 14:09
  - truly does impact every household in America. And
• 14:12
  - so anything as it relates to innovation with
• 14:15
  - the immune system,
• 14:16
  - and as I said, where viruses,
• 14:20
  - play a defining role, that is a space
• 14:22
  - which AMFAR plans to further invest. And that
• 14:24
  - includes, you know, as I mentioned,
• 14:26
  - particular certain types of cancers,
• 14:29
  - other neurological conditions, definitely autoimmune disorders, and and
• 14:32
  - certain viral diseases. So that's kind of gonna
• 14:35
  - be our broad
• 14:36
  - focus.
• 14:37
  - Right. I mean, so many other areas that
• 14:40
  - the research impacts positively as well. That I
• 14:43
  - mean, that's really one of the key take
• 14:45
  - on points. Right? It's not just about HIV,
• 14:47
  - though that's the core of it. It has
• 14:48
  - so much impact on other autoimmune diseases and
• 14:51
  - everything else,
• 14:52
  - inflammatory diseases too.
• 14:55
  - Hundred percent. Totally.
• 14:56
  - And and the reality of it is these
• 14:59
  - researchers,
• 15:00
  - and institutions
• 15:02
  - at times can have a tendency to work
• 15:03
  - in silos.
• 15:04
  - And,
• 15:06
  - you know, it what the benefit of
• 15:08
  - receiving funding from AMFIRE is that you're introduced
• 15:11
  - to other
• 15:12
  - peer researchers that are probably working on similar
• 15:15
  - projects.
• 15:16
  - And,
• 15:17
  - and so we have the convening power, and,
• 15:20
  - we're creating a network of researchers and
• 15:23
  - funding and bringing them together. And and that's
• 15:25
  - one of the things you'll see with some
• 15:26
  - of our recent announcements is that we will
• 15:28
  - fund
• 15:29
  - grants that brings researchers from different disciplines together.
• 15:33
  - And and right now, the struggle that does
• 15:35
  - exist is that institutions and and researchers, it's
• 15:38
  - you know, it can be quite siloed. Right?
• 15:40
  - And and so we have that convening power
• 15:43
  - and and fund what would be that kind
• 15:45
  - of cross disciplinary research.
• 15:47
  - Well, Kyle, just remarkable what you do. I
• 15:51
  - wanna thank you and AMFIRE for the work
• 15:53
  - that you do, and thank you, of course,
• 15:55
  - for joining us today,
• 15:57
  - in the Bechtris Healthcare podcast. Simply remarkable what
• 16:00
  - you do. Thank you so much for joining
• 16:02
  - us. Thank you.