2013 Towards an HIV Cure Symposium
29 & 30 June 2013 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Under the auspices of the International AIDS Society, an international working group of researchers developed a Global Scientific Strategy “Towards an HIV Cure”, which was launched at a scientific symposium immediately preceding the XIX International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC in July 2012. The symposium, which received positive scientific feedback, provided a platform to present state-of-the-art basic science and clinical research on the HIV cure research priority areas defined in the strategy.

Following the publication of the Global Scientific Strategy in Nature Reviews Immunology and the success of the symposium, the IAS and the “Towards an HIV Cure” Advisory Board convened another 2-day pre-conference symposium immediately prior to the 7th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention in Kuala Lumpur in June 2013.

The symposium, co-chaired by Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, IAS President, Steven Deeks, Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and Sharon Lewin, Director of the Infectious Diseases Unit, Alfred Hospital, Monash University, was closely linked to the IAS 2013 conference programme.

Objectives

• Develop knowledge on the priorities that future research must address in order to tackle HIV persistence in patients on ART.
• Accelerate research on viral reservoirs as the way towards achieving a cure for HIV infection
• Provide an opportunity for scientists who are working on HIV cure to share ideas, debate, and network among their peers
• Promote increased investments in HIV/AIDS cure research
• Provide a platform for information-sharing between scientists, clinicians, funders, media and members of civil society.

Themes of the Symposium

The symposium was structured around an opening keynote speaker, four oral abstract sessions, two roundtable discussions, a poster exhibition and a closing keynote presentation. It also include two award ceremonies; the CNIHR award programme and the IAS-ANRS Prize on HIV Cure.

Day 1

• Oral Abstract Session 1: Cellular sensing and regulation of HIV production
• Roundtable Discussion: Pharma collaboration and regulatory issues
• Oral Abstract Session 2: Characterizing the reservoir in tissues and T cell subsets

Day 2

• Oral Abstract Session 3: Kick and Kill: Novel approaches to reversing latency and immune clearance
• Oral Abstract Session 4: Clinical interventions targeting the HIV reservoir
• Roundtable Discussion: Ethics and patient expectations

CNIHR Award Ceremony

In collaboration with the U.S. Centers for AIDS Research and the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the IAS awards for the third time the grant programme 'Creative and Novel Ideas in HIV Research' (CNIHR). In 2013, the CNIHR grant programme supports scientists withour prior experience in HIV cure research with the aim of supporting innovative approaches with the potential of contributing to the search for an HIV cure. Eleven research grants worth up to US$150,000 per year for one to two years were awarded at IAS 2013. The initiative aims to foster cross-disciplinary research, promote novel ideas and aid in the success of investigators at an early career stage. Read more

IAS-ANRS Prize on HIV Cure

The US$2,000 IAS/ANRS Young Investigator Award is jointly funded by the IAS and the Agence Nationale de Recherche sur le sida et les hépatites virales (ANRS) to support young researchers who demonstrate innovation, originality, rationale and quality in the field of HIV/AIDS research. The 2013 Prize was awarded to Lachlan Gray, Monash University & Burnet Institute, Australia. Read more

The Symposium Programme Committee

• Adeeba Kamarulzaman, University of Malaya, Malaysia
• Bruno Spire, Inserm, France
• Daniel Kuritzkes, Harvard Medical School, USA
• David Margolis, University of North Carolina, USA
• Doug Richman, University of California, San Diego, USA
• Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Institut Pasteur, France
• Jintanat Ananworanich, The Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre, Thailand
• Nicolas Chomont, VGTI-Florida, USA
• Paula Cannon, University of Southern California, USA
• Richard Koup, NIAID, USA
• Sharon Lewin, Monash University, Australia
• Steven Deeks, University of California San Francisco, USA

With the support of: