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AIDS 2024, the 25th International AIDS Conference

Rapporteurs

Rapporteurs have the important task of objectively recording the proceedings and groundbreaking presentations at AIDS 2024. Throughout the conference, an international team of rapporteurs will report on key conference highlights across all tracks.

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All summaries will be published on this page during the week. A rapporteur session will be held immediately before the closing session on Friday, 26 July 2024. This session will synthesize the presentations made during the week, focusing on critical issues addressed, important results presented and key recommendations put forward.

Track A: Basic science

Lead: Zaza Ndhlovu

Zaza Ndhlovu

Zaza Ndhlovu

Africa Health Research Institute, South Africa

Zaza Ndhlovu’s academic positions include Associate Professor at Africa Health Research Institute and Assistant Professor of Medicine Harvard University at Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, as well as Associate Professor (Honorary) in the Division of Infection and Immunity at University College London. Zaza’s research goal is to spatially resolve molecular processes within tissue microenvironments that hinder the complete eradication of HIV. Additionally, his laboratory generates high-resolution human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing in Africa. This initiative will culminate in building a comprehensive HLA database for African populations, essential for vaccine development and the study of HLA associations with diseases.

Andrea Olga Papadopoulos

Andrea Papadopoulos

Africa Health Research Institute, South Africa

Andrea Papadopoulos is a molecular biologist who attained her PhD from Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is working on the M. tuberculosis cell wall. She pivoted into HIV T cell immunology for her postdoc at the Ndhlovu lab at the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) in Durban. At AHRI, she channels her molecular background into spatial and single-cell omics to study the HIV reservoir immune microenvironment in human tissue, piloting the first spatial omics platform in Africa. She also co-supervises a Master’s student, phenotyping T cell responses to first-generation COVID-19 vaccines. 

Christian Gaebler

Christian GaeblerChristian Gaebler

Charité, Berlin

Christian Gaebler is a Professor at Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, leading the Laboratory for Translational Immunology of Viral Infections and co-leading the Personalized Infectious Medicine programme at the Berlin Institute of Health. Previously, he served as an Assistant Professor at Rockefeller University in New York. As a physician-scientist, his research ranges from basic immunology of viral infections to the clinical development of antibody immunotherapies for infectious diseases, with a focus on HIV. Christian’s contributions have earned him significant recognition, including the 2021 Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Award and the 2023 German AIDS Award from the German AIDS Society.

Julia Roider

Julia RoiderJulia Roider

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany

Julia Roider is a clinician scientist dedicated to the care of healthcare clients and translational research in infectious diseases. After a postdoctoral stay with Oxford University conducted at the Africa Health Research Institute in Durban, South Africa, she has returned to her home institution, LMU University Hospital in Munich, to lead her own research group. Together with researchers across Germany within the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) HIV working group, her main research interest is how to achieve immunological control and ART-free remission of HIV.

Federico de América Perdomo Celis

Federico Perdomo-Celis

Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia

Federico Perdomo-Celis, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at Instituto de Genética Humana, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia. His main research interests are the study of the immune response to viral infections, with a particular focus on the T cell response. During his postdoctoral training at Pasteur Institute Paris (Saez-Cirión lab), he studied the mechanisms of HIV control in the absence of antiretroviral therapy and developed a system to reprogramme CD8+ T cells to improve their functional capacity.

Track B: Clinical science

Lead: Sasisopin Kiertiburanakul

Sasisopin Kiertiburanakul

Mahidol University, Thailand

Sasisopin Kiertiburanakul is a Professor of Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. She is the Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs and Culture, the Vice President of the Infectious Disease Association of Thailand, and the Secretary of the Thai AIDS Society. Sasisopin’s research focuses on general infectious diseases, tropical infectious diseases and HIV. She has authored, co-authored and collaborated on more than 240 articles published in peer-reviewed medical journals. She is also a committee member and consultant for various national organizations, for example, the Ministry of Public Health and the National HIV Guidelines Committee. 

 

Georg Behrens

Georg BehrensGeorg Behrens

Hannover Medical School, Germany

Georg Behrens is Professor of T Cell Immunology at Hannover Medical School, Germany. He is a specialist in internal medicine, immunology and infectious disease. From 2000 to 2003, he worked at the Immunology Division at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research, Melbourne, Australia. He is a principal investigator of national and international studies in HIV medicine and was President of the German AIDS Society from 2011 to 2019. For many years, he was a Board member of the European AIDS Clinical Society (EACS) and chair of the EACS Treatment Guidelines. He is a NEAT-ID steering committee member, Co-Chair of the TTU-HIV in the German Center for Infection Research and Chair of the MD/PhD Program in Molecular Medicine.

Onyema Ogbuagu

Onyema OgbuaguOnyema Ogbuagu

Yale University, United States

Onyema Ogbuagu is an Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases and Director of the Antivirals and Vaccines Research Program in the Section of Infectious Diseases at Yale School of Medicine. He has served as principal investigator on multiple multinational early-phase and FDA registrational trials for HIV treatment and prevention, COVID treatment and vaccines being developed for a host of viral and bacterial infections. He is also an affiliate of the Yale Institute of Global Health, where he has supported and led medical education and training initiatives in Rwanda and Liberia, as well as research capacity building with a current focus on HIV prevention for adolescent girls and young women vulnerable to HIV in Liberia. Onyema is also a practicing clinician and provides expert consultation for complex HIV treatment and prevention cases.

Romanee Chaiwarith

Romanee ChaiwarithRomanee Chaiwarith

Chiang Mai University, Thailand

Romanee Chaiwarith is a Professor of Medicine at Chiang Mai University’s Faculty of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine. She received her medical degree from Chiang Mai University, pursued a Master’s degree in clinical investigation (GTPCI) at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and serves as the site PI for the TREAT Asia Network and the IeDEA Asia-Pacific Research Collaboration. With over 20 years of experience in the care of people living with HIV, her research focuses on opportunistic infections and co-infections, particularly talaromycosis. Romanee has over 140 publications on PubMed.

Tristan Barber

Tristan BarberTristan Barber

University College London, United Kingdom

Tristan Barber is a Consultant HIV in HIV Medicine at the Royal Free Hospital, London, UK, and Honorary Associate Professor at the Institute for Global Health, University College London. He is the current Chair of the EACS Young Investigator Network (YING), Honorary Secretary and Chair of the Education and Scientific Subcommittee for the British HIV Association, and Chair of the peer support charity, Positively UK. Tristan established a dedicated service for people ageing with HIV in 2019 (The Sage Clinic). He has a research background in neurocognitive impairment and antiretroviral clinical trials. Tristan is Editor-in-chief of the journal, HIV Research and Clinical Practice.

Track C: Epidemiology and prevention science

Lead: Benjamin Bavinton

Benjamin BavintonBenjamin Bavinton

The Kirby Institute, Australia

Benjamin Bavinton has worked in the field of HIV prevention and research in Australia and internationally for 20 years. He is a Senior Research Fellow and Group Leader at the Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, focusing on the biomedical, behavioural and epidemiological aspects of HIV prevention among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men and trans women in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.

Florian Voit

Florian VoitFlorian Voit

Technical University of Munich, Germany

Florian Voit is a fellow in infectious diseases and a member of Christoph Spinner's research group at the University Hospital Rechts der Isar in Munich. With a background in T cell immunology, Florian's research currently focuses on digital solutions for HIV prevention.

Njambi Njuguna

Njambi NjugunaNjambi Njuguna

FHI 360, Kenya

Njambi Njuguna is a medical doctor with over 14 years’ public health and research experience, specializing in implementing sexual and reproductive health (SRH) programmes. She has contributed to several multi-site, multi-country Phase III HIV prevention clinical trials, demonstration projects and related studies in Kenya. She is a Technical Advisor for the USAID-funded MOSAIC project, supporting ministries of health to introduce new biomedical HIV prevention products in several central, eastern, southern and western African countries. In addition, Njambi is pursuing her PhD in implementation science at the University of Nairobi. Her dissertation focuses on optimizing the delivery of antiretroviral drugs within HIV care centres.  

Sabina Haberlen

Sabina HaberlenSabina Haberlen

Johns Hopkins University, United States

Sabina Haberlen is an Associate Research Professor of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She applies epidemiologic and demographic methods to optimize HIV prevention and improve health and psychosocial outcomes among populations affected by HIV. Her research has spanned academic and practice settings in the US, Caribbean and East and West Africa. Sabina is a co-investigator of the Data Analysis and Coordination Center for the longest observational study of HIV in the US, the MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study, where she leads research on, for example, addressing intersectional stigma, identifying resiliencies for healthy ageing with HIV, and improving the quality and reach of comprehensive HIV care. Previously, her roles included leading the PEPFAR Tanzania Implementation Science Interagency Technical Team and serving on the National Advisory Group on Scaling up HAART to all pregnant women living with HIV in Tanzania.

Viviane Bremer

Viviane BremerViviane Bremer

Robert Koch-Institute, Germany

Viviane Bremer is a medical epidemiologist. Originally from Luxemburg, she has been working on surveillance of STIs and HIV at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) since 2001. From 2008 to 2012, she was the head of the European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in Stockholm, Sweden. She returned to the RKI, and in 2014, was appointed as the head of the Unit for HIV/AIDS, STI and Bloodborne Infections. She has authored numerous articles in the field of HIV and STI. Viviane is also head of the WHO European Region Collaborating Center for Viral Hepatitis and HIV. 

Track D: Social and behavioural sciences

Lead: Maria Amelia Veras

Maria Amelia VerasMaria Amelia Veras

Santa Casa de São Paulo School of Medical Sciences, Brazil

Maria Amelia Veras, MD, MPH, PhD, is Professor at the Santa Casa de São Paulo School of Medical Sciences, in São Paulo, Brazil. She is the leader of NUDHES (Health, Sexuality and Human Rights of LGBT+ community), a multidisciplinary research group working at the intersection of health, social sciences and human rights. Maria is the co-founder and a Board member of RIGHT-PLUS (Ibero-American Network for Studies on Gay Men, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men and Transgender People). She is also a Councilor of the International Epidemiological Association for Latin America/Caribbean (2023-2024). Her research interests include social inequalities and health of the LBGTI+ population in the Brazilian context.

Beo Oliveira Leite

Beo Oliveira LeiteBeo Oliveira Leite

Federal University of Bahia, Brazil

Beo Oliveira Leite has a PharmB and MSc in epidemiology and is a PhD candidate in epidemiology at the Federal University of Bahia, Institute of Collective Health, and a visiting graduate researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles, Fielding School of Public Health. Beo’s professional experience includes working in the field of public health, particularly concerning the healthcare of trans women and the epidemiology of HIV and its social and behavioural determinants, as well as conducting cross-sectional studies using complex sampling techniques and longitudinal studies.

Daniela Rojas Castro

Daniela Rojas CastroDaniela Rojas Castro

independent consultant, Spain

Daniela Rojas Castro is a public health consultant with a rich background in sexual health and HIV and AIDS spanning almost 25 years. She has conducted over 50 community-based research projects and evaluated health services, providing her with a profound understanding of the challenges individuals face regarding health rights, stigma and discrimination, sexual health needs and healthcare access. Daniela is committed to driving change by combining on-the-ground action, advocacy and knowledge generation. She has established strong connections with international research teams and institutions, collaborating closely with programmes dedicated to knowledge management, community health services and advocacy to ensure the delivery of optimal care.

Daniel Grace

Daniel GraceDaniel Grace

University of Toronto, Canada

Daniel Grace is an Associate Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, and the Canada Research Chair in Sexual and Gender Minority Health. He is an internationally recognized medical sociologist who leads a mixed-methods programme of community-engaged research to advance the social, mental, physical and sexual health of 2SLGBTQ+ communities. His research into the everyday understandings of biomedical HIV prevention and public health interventions has informed community programmes, health policy and legislation at provincial, national and international levels. Daniel is the Director of the Centre for Sexual and Gender Minority Health Research.

Zaynab Essack

Zaynab EssackZaynab Essack

Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa

Zaynab Essack, PhD, is a research psychologist and socio-behavioural scientist at the Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa. With a strong background in social science and humanities, Zaynab’s research focuses on public health, research ethics and human rights issues in low- and middle-income countries. Her work primarily aims to improve access to HIV prevention options and reduce health disparities related to sexual and reproductive health, violence, mental health and drug dependency among vulnerable populations, particularly adolescents, women and sexual minorities. A linking thread of this work is the use of innovative arts-based and community-based methodologies in socio-behavioural research. Her extensive experience includes leading multidisciplinary teams, managing multi-country projects and contributing to the capacity development of junior researchers through supervision, teaching and mentoring. She is co-PI of a Master's degree programme in health research ethics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

 

Track E: Implementation science, economics, systems and synergies

Lead: Sean Rourke

Sean RourkeSean Rourke

University of Toronto, Canada

Sean Rourke is a scientist with MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael’s Hospital and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He is internationally recognized for his work in HIV-associated neurocognitive impairments and health and well-being. Sean has spent his career working within and across sectors and spaces to have real-life impact for people living with and affected by HIV. He is getting new point-of-care and self-testing options to Canada for HIV and STIs to reach the undiagnosed and underserved, and then implementing and scaling up pragmatic solutions using technology and structural interventions to connect people to the care they need in their communities.

Julie P Ngo

Julie NgoJulie P Ngo

Johns Hopkins University, Thailand

Julie P Ngo is a project consultant with the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she conducts HIV prevention research for key populations in Thailand with Chris Beyrer. She has also supported the Institute of HIV Research and Innovation in capacity strengthening and scale up of PrEP among key populations across South and Southeast Asia. Her research interests include the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of oral PrEP and implementation of evidence-based innovations for HIV prevention, care and treatment. Julie holds an MSPH in Global Disease Epidemiology and Control from Johns Hopkins.

Lorena Guerrero Torres

Lorena Guerrero TorresLorena Guerrero Torres

Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, World Health Organization, Switzerland

Lorena Guerrero Torres, a public health and health systems researcher from Mexico, is a technical officer at the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research at WHO in Geneva, Switzerland. She supports countries in knowledge-based decision making. Lorena trained as a medical doctor, specializing in internal medicine and infectious diseases at the National Institute of Health.

Rodenie Arnaiz Olete

Rodenie Arnaiz OleteRodenie Arnaiz Olete

National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan

Rodenie Arnaiz Olete, MSc, RN, is a PhD student in the Department of Public Health, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan. He also serves as a technical writer and project manager at the Sustained Health Initiatives of the Philippines. His project on temporary shelter and psychosocial support for people living with HIV was recognized as a best practice model of the IAS Person-Centred Care Programme. Currently, he focuses on a Philippines-based programme to enhance access to psycho-socioeconomic support for people living with HIV by strengthening the service delivery network of mental health and social welfare professionals.

Wale Ajiboye

Wale AjiboyeWale Ajiboye

St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto

Wale Ajiboye is a senior research associate at MAP Center for Urban Health Solution, St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto. With extensive experience in implementation science research, Wale designs, adapts, tests and implements strategies to increase the adoption of evidence-based tools (HIV PrEP and HIV testing) for HIV prevention among key populations in Black communities in Canada, the USA and Ghana.

Track F: Political science, laws, ethics, policies and human rights

Lead: Oratile Moseki

Oratile MosekiOratile Moseki

Frontline AIDS, United Kingdom

Oratile Moseki is a human rights practitioner with over 20 years’ experience advancing the rights of communities marginalized in HIV responses. She has extensive experience in human rights programming, advocacy, participatory research and training. In the early 2000s in her home country of Botswana, Oratile engaged in community organizing and rights literacy, and helped the national HIV sector ensure that human rights were protected in its response to HIV. Oratile now lives in the UK and works for Frontline AIDS, leading on human rights advocacy. In collaboration with the Global Fund, she has developed technical guidance for implementers on how to design and deliver good-quality human rights programmes for the HIV response, resources that are now used extensively in national responses to HIV.

 

Jude Thaddeus Njikem

Jude Thaddeus NjikemJude Thaddues Njikem

Sonke Gender Justice, South Africa

Jude Thaddues Njikem is a committed sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) specialist who is enthusiastic about educating individuals to make well-informed decisions about their health and rights. He has more than eight years of experience and is responsible for overseeing the execution of the MenEngage Africa SRHR Strategy at Sonke Gender Justice. Jude possesses skills in resource mobilization, partnership development and best practice documentation. His leadership positions in organizations such as MenEngage Alliance Cameroon and Vision in Action – Cameroon showcase his adeptness in strategic planning to advance gender equality and sustainable development. Jude’s academic expertise in sexual and reproductive rights, with his active support for empowering young people and promoting human rights, demonstrates his dedication to fostering beneficial societal transformation. Jude is a versatile leader who spearheads influential programmes in SRHR, gender equality and youth development.

Maher Sleiman

Maher SleimanMaher Sleiman

Frontline AIDS, Lebanon

Maher Sleiman, a Lebanese human rights activist, has a wealth of expertise in programme management and coordination, with a focus on humanitarian response and health initiatives. Currently serving as Advisor: Programmes (MENA, Human Rights Response) for Frontline AIDS, Maher has demonstrated remarkable adaptability while coordinating complex donor-funded programmes across countries and partners in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. With a solid background in nursing and public policy, Maher is poised to make significant contributions to the mission of advancing global health equity, sustainable development and the promotion of human rights.

Viktoriia Kalyniuk

Viktoriia KalyniukViktoriia Kalyniuk

Alliance for Public Health, Ukraine

Viktoriia Kalyniuk is young anti-discrimination and human rights activist. In 2019, she coordinated the launch of REAct (a tool to document human rights violations) in the Regional Global Fund Program in the eastern Europe and central Asia region. In 2021, she initiated the International Decoration of Human Rights campaign to emphasize that the human rights of the most marginalized populations are being violated in almost every sphere of life, with evidence of the breach of each Article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). Viktoriia was nominated as a Youth Ambassador at AIDS 2020 and an IAS change maker at AIDS 2022. Currently, she is involved in various humanitarian initiatives to mitigate harm caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and is particularly interested in interventions to prevent gender-based violence and support Ukrainians affected by war.

Community and leadership sessions

Lead: Susan Cole

Susan ColeSusan Cole

NAM aidsmap, United Kingdom

Susan Cole is an award-winning HIV activist, broadcaster, writer and public speaker, advocating for people living with HIV for over two decades. She leads the community engagement and broadcasting activities for the HIV information charity, aidsmap, including producing and hosting the live broadcast series, aidsmapLIVE, for a global audience of people living with HIV. She is a Board member of the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+), a member of the 4M Network of Mentor Mothers and serves as a community representative of the HIV Special Interest Group of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, invited for her work on addressing health inequities affecting women and people of colour living with HIV.

Juddy Otti

Juddy OttiJuddy Otti

Sophia Forum, United Kingdom

Juddy Otti has over 14 years’ experience of working in the HIV sector on various initiatives in the UK, including HIV prevention programmes (PrEP), supporting people living with HIV around treatment, personal development and advocacy. In addition, she manages service delivery to facilitate, promote and advocate for the involvement of Black migrant communities in forming and informing local and national strategy and policy. Juddy also sits on several national and international advisory boards and is passionate about bringing migrant communities’ issues to the forefront of the HIV agenda, as well as advocating for a better understanding of issues affecting women as they age with HIV.

Krishen Samuel

Krishen SamuelKrishen Samuel

University of Arkansas, United States

Krishen Samuel, PhD, MPH, is a queer public health researcher, writer and HIV activist. His education and experience span three continents. Originally from South Africa, he recently completed a PhD in health behaviour at the University of Arkansas on a Fulbright Scholarship. He received a Master’s degree in global public health and policy from Queen Mary, University of London, in 2017. Krishen has engaged in activism for the inclusion of people living with HIV and stigma reduction efforts globally. He has spoken at the British Parliament and Harvard University and been featured on the BBC in this role. Krishen’s writing has appeared in The HuffPost UK, Medium, aidsmap and TheBody.

Lucy Wanjiku Njenga

Lucy Wanjiku NjengaLucy Wanjiku Njenga

Positive Young Women Voices, Kenya

Lucy Wanjiku Njenga prides herself on creating an enabling environment for other young leaders to thrive. She has worked in the HIV response for more than 10 years, establishing feminist movements and agitating for gender equality from the grassroots to global levels. Lucy is the Founding Coordinator of Sauti Skika, the first network of adolescents living with HIV in Kenya. She is also the Founder and Executive Director of Positive Young Women Voices, a community-based organization that works to empower adolescent girls and young women living with or affected by HIV. She is a member of the ICASO Board of Directors, a Board member of the Country Coordinating Mechanism for the Global Fund, and a former African Delegate to the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board. Wanjiku authored Hope Made A Way about her journey of triumph against adversities and inequalities. She is an emerging writer for NAM aidsmap in the UK.

Miguel Ángel López

Miguel Ángel LópezMiguel Ángel López

Más Que Tres Letras, Colombia

Miguel Ángel López is a journalist from Colombia who is studying for a Master’s in Public Health with a thesis that focuses on the role of health communications in generating demand for HIV tests. He co-founded and co-directs Más Que Tres Letras, a Colombian NGO dedicated to social media, health communications and workshops to spread HIV-related information. The intention is to reduce stigma and discrimination and improve access to testing, treatment and general well-being of people living with HIV. He currently sits on the board of GNP+. He is part of Bogota’s Fast Track City committee, an Acumen Academy fellow, and an applicant to Corresponsales Claves, a group of journalists dedicated to coverage of HIV and TB in Latin America.

 

 

 

 


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The IAS promotes the use of non-stigmatizing, people-first language. The translations are all automated in the interest of making our content as widely accessible as possible. Regretfully, they may not always adhere to the people-first language of the original version.