International AIDS Society

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“TOWARDS A CURE”: HIV RESERVOIRS AND STRATEGIES TO CONTROL THEM

Pre-Conference Workshop: 16 - 17 July 2010, Vienna, Austria

Background

In order to increase the focus on basic science at the next International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010), which will be held in Vienna, the IAS will organize a high level, invitation only, basic science workshop in advance of the conference, chaired by 2008 Nobel Laureate for Medicine and IAS Governing Council Member Françoise Barré-Sinoussi. The workshop will focus on the topic of HIV reservoirs and strategies to control them. It will be followed up with translational sessions at AIDS 2010 that report back on the discussions held at the workshop.

Scientific research has led to remarkable discoveries in the quarter century since HIV was first discovered. Today, individuals living with HIV can expect to live a relatively normal lifespan if they are diagnosed and treated early enough and are able to access and adhere to potent antiretroviral drug regimens. A deadly disease has been transformed into a chronic manageable condition, largely due to the efforts of basic scientists.

The strategies currently being investigated to control HIV reservoirs may hold the key to a cure for HIV disease in the future. It is widely known that current antiretroviral drugs cannot completely eradicate the virus from the body because HIV remains in some cells in a non-replicating stage called latent infection. The persistence of latent HIV reservoirs in different compartments of the body is one of the main barriers to the eradication of HIV infection.

Objectives of the Workshop:

To promote state-of-the-art research on HIV transmission, pathogenesis and disease progression
To attract the world’s leading basic scientists including senior, mid-career and junior scientists; a small number of clinical researchers and selected editors of scientific journals to come together at a global experts’ meeting, and discuss the advances and direction of basic HIV research – focusing on HIV reservoirs and strategies to control them.
To explore the road ‘towards a cure’, highlight implications and potential for translation of cutting edge research on HIV reservoirs for clinical research, drug development, public health and other applications – and contribute to defining research priorities in HIV prevention, treatment and care.
To increase interactions between basic scientists and other stakeholders in the HIV response by creating incentives for basic scientists to participate in the International AIDS Conference and creating incentives for the wider HIV/AIDS community to engage in basic science.

Themes of the workshop

The workshop will be articulated around an opening keynote, 5 thematic sessions including invited presentations and abstract presentations, a closing keynote and a poster exhibition. The programme will be updated regularly on this webpage. The themes of the workshop sessions will be:

Details of the Workshop

The IAS will convene a 2-day workshop, beginning with a keynote presentation and reception on the evening of 16 July 2010 and ending at 6pm on 17 July for up to 200 invited basic science researchers in Vienna, Austria, immediately preceding the XVIII International AIDS Conference, to take place 18-23 July.

The workshop will be closely linked to the AIDS 2010 conference programme. Track A and B (basic and clinical sciences) abstracts submitted to the International AIDS Conference and related to the topic of viral reservoirs and strategies to control them will be presented and discussed at the closed workshop (oral presentations and posters), and results from the workshop will be shared with the expected 25 000-30 000 participants attending AIDS 2010. The best abstract presented by a young investigator will receive the IAS-ANRS Prize on HIV Reservoirs, to be awarded at the workshop.