Imagine working on HIV for 30 years, the toughest virus in history that caused the AIDS pandemic in the 20^th century, and then pivoting in a moment to battle a new 21^st century pandemic, COVID-19. The Duke Human Vaccine Institute (DHVI), led by Barton Haynes, discovered how HIV evades the immune system — a critical finding to develop an HIV vaccine. When COVID-19 hit the U.S. in 2020, DHVI immediately applied its technology for HIV to develop vaccines that will work with mutations to today's virus and new coronaviruses. DHVI also rapidly developed COVID-19 testing for all of Duke University, conducting more than 175,000 individual tests in a semester. Technology, basic science, collaboration and readiness: an unparalleled combination that's on its way to defeating both COVID-19 and HIV.