HIV Therapy Simulator: a graphical user interface for comparing the effectiveness of novel therapy regimens

Bioinformatics. 2011 Nov 1;27(21):3065-6. doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btr515. Epub 2011 Sep 9.

Abstract

Computer simulation models can be useful in exploring the efficacy of HIV therapy regimens in preventing the evolution of drug-resistant viruses. Current modeling programs, however, were designed by researchers with expertise in computational biology, limiting their accessibility to those who might lack such a background. We have developed a user-friendly graphical program, HIV Therapy Simulator (HIVSIM), that is accessible to non-technical users. The program allows clinicians and researchers to explore the effectiveness of various therapeutic strategies, such as structured treatment interruptions, booster therapies and induction-maintenance therapies. We anticipate that HIVSIM will be useful for evaluating novel drug-based treatment concepts in clinical research, and as an educational tool.

Availability: HIV Therapy Simulator is freely available for Mac OS and Windows at http://sites.google.com/site/hivsimulator/.

Contact: jmittler@uw.edu.

Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

MeSH terms

  • Anti-HIV Agents / therapeutic use
  • Computer Graphics
  • Computer Simulation
  • HIV Infections / drug therapy*
  • HIV Infections / virology
  • Humans
  • Models, Biological
  • Nevirapine / therapeutic use
  • Software*
  • User-Computer Interface

Substances

  • Anti-HIV Agents
  • Nevirapine