The inspiration for my recent research project and this Shiny App was an article in the New York Times about a small number of children that were born with HIV. The article described how all of these children were treated heavily, very early in life and then, for one reason or another, they all abruptly ended treatment. What was interesting about their cases, was that rather than the virus continuing on without treatment and then progressing to AIDS (as one would expect), these children entered a state of remission for various periods of time. One of the children is still in remission today.
My goal for this research project is to use a series of differential equations (pictured below) to recreate the conditions under which a child would enter a permanent remission. The app I have created here, using R software, allows the user to examine the various cell and virus populations that are involved in HIV over time. The user can vary the different treatment levels and change the length of treatment to evaluate the outcome. Take the app for a spin and let me know what you think!
Shiny App: Modeling the Treatment of HIV in Children
Acknowledgements: This project has benefitted from the supportive research environment provided for undergraduate students at University of Central Oklahoma and from research and travel funding from its Office of Research and Sponsored Projects, Office of High-Impact Practices, RCSA program, and College of Mathematics and Science .
Kelley France 