About the Authors

Bruce K. Brown

Affiliation United States Military HIV Research Program, Henry M. Jackson Foundation, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America

Josephine Cox

Affiliation United States Military HIV Research Program, Henry M. Jackson Foundation, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America

Anita Gillis

Affiliation United States Military HIV Research Program, Henry M. Jackson Foundation, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America

Thomas C. VanCott

Affiliation United States Military HIV Research Program, Henry M. Jackson Foundation, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America

Mary Marovich

Affiliation United States Military HIV Research Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America

Mark Milazzo

Affiliation United States Military HIV Research Program, Henry M. Jackson Foundation, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America

Tanya Santelli Antonille

Affiliation United States Military HIV Research Program, Henry M. Jackson Foundation, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America

Lindsay Wieczorek

Affiliation United States Military HIV Research Program, Henry M. Jackson Foundation, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America

Kelly T. McKee Jr

Affiliation DynPort Vaccine Company LLC, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America

Karen Metcalfe

Affiliation DynPort Vaccine Company LLC, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America

Raburn M. Mallory

Affiliation DynPort Vaccine Company LLC, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America

Deborah Birx

Affiliation United States Military HIV Research Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America

Victoria R. Polonis

Affiliation United States Military HIV Research Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America

Merlin L. Robb

mrobb@hivresearch.org

Affiliation United States Military HIV Research Program, Henry M. Jackson Foundation, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America

Competing Interests

Dr. Mallory was previously an employee of DynPort Vaccine Company LLC, a CSC company, and is currently employed by MedImmune LLC, a subsidiary of AstraZeneca. Dr. Kelly T. McKee Jr. was previously an employee of DynPort Vaccine Company LLC, a CSC company, and is currently employed by Quintiles Transnational Corporation. Dr. Josephine Cox was previously an employee of the US Military HIV Research Program and is currently employed by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. Dr. Thomas C. VanCott was previously an employee of the US Military HIV Research Program and is currently employed by Advanced BioScience Laboratories. Dr. Deborah Birx was previously an employee of the US Military HIV Research Program and is currently employed by the US Centers for Disease Control. DynPort Vaccine Company LLC was the study sponsor. None of the declared conflicting interests impede data sharing as described in the PLoS sharing guidelines.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: BKB JC TCV MAM MM TSA KM RMM DLB VRP MLR. Performed the experiments: BKB AG LW. Analyzed the data: BKB JC MM TSA MLR. Wrote the paper: BKB. Provided guidance, direction, decision-making, and oversight: KTM.