Lakota East Students Take AIDS Cure Idea To UC Lab

A group of really smart students at Lakota East High School , known to fellow teens as the kids trying to find a cure for AIDS, is taking its plan to the next level by meeting with the head of AIDS research at the University of Cincinnati . Lexie Adams, Chase Harris, Maddox Linneman and Sam Pannek were invited to UC by Dr. Carl Fichtenbaum, Director of HIV Clinical Research. They visited December 7, 2016. They're used to explaining their proposed AIDS cure because they've done it so many times in the halls of Lakota East. To other high school students Chase Harris says he has to oversimplify it. "I don't want to say dumb it down but explain it really well. The analogy works well that Sam came up with." Here's the analogy, according to Pannek: "The HIV virus is like an intruder. The bad guys, the GP120 and the GP41 proteins are the key. The CCR5 surface receptor is the lock. The CD4 cell is the house. What we're trying to do is get the key put it in the lock and break it off so it bars