The Forum for Collaborative Research joins the HIV community in mourning the loss of Professor Andrea De Luca who passed away earlier this month. Professor De Luca worked with members of The Forum on multiple occasions and made many contributions to the global fight against HIV/AIDS. Please click here to read more on the WHO web site.

The 4th Paris NASH Meeting was held July 5-6, 2018 at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France. The meeting was co-organizated by Dr. Lawrence Serfaty, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, Dr. Arun Sanyal, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Dr. Veronica Miller, Forum for Collaborative Research. 

The materials from the 2-day meeting that have been made available can be found on our website, and also on the meeting website. 

On behalf of the International AIDS Society 

This is your last chance to apply for the Research-for-Cure Academy, taking place 31 October – 2 November 2018 at the Wits Rural Facility in Bushbuckridge, South Africa. The deadline for applications is 12 August 2018.

APPLY NOW

The International AIDS Society (IAS) invites early to mid-career HIV investigators and clinical scientists to apply for a fellowship to attend an interactive three-day workshop in South Africa on state-of-the-art HIV cure research, led by internationally renowned scientists. 

On behalf of the World Health Organization

On-the-go access to the following modules from the WHO PrEP Implementation Tool 

Integrating Infectious Disease Prevention and Treatment into the Opioid Response

The opioid crisis in the United States is devastating the lives of millions of Americans. Perhaps overshadowed by the alarming rise in overdoses and deaths is the accompanying number of injection-related infectious diseases. Opioid overdose deaths increased fivefold from 1999 to 2016, and new hepatitis C infections more than tripled from 2010 to 2016. 

Earlier this year, the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health’s Office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy and the Office on Women’s Health sponsored a workshop at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to explore the infectious disease consequences of the opioid crisis and consider opportunities to better integrate effective responses. On Friday, July 13th, a detailed summary of the proceedings was available to download. The summary provides expert opinion on the major challenges and opportunities relating to infectious diseases and can serve as a strategic action and planning resource for communities.

Learn more about the proceedings​. 

On July 28, 2018, World Hepatitis Day will focus attention on the huge impact of viral hepatitis infection globally – with as many as one in 12 people worldwide living with either chronic hepatitis B or C.

Director's Update 

Maureen M. Goodenow, Ph.D.

The NIH recently had the pleasure of hosting Bruce Richman, founding executive director of the Prevention Access Campaign, to explain the Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U) campaign and what it means for addressing stigma faced by people with HIV (PWH). Diagnosed with HIV in 2003, Bruce learned in 2012 he could not transmit HIV to sexual partners because antiretroviral therapy (ART) had brought his viral load to undetectable levels. He committed to sharing this life-changing information in the hope that PWH and their partners will live healthy sexual and reproductive lives free of fear and stigma.

U=U has its foundation in the science behind Treatment as Prevention (TasP). The HPTN 052 study found that there is effectively no sexual transmission of HIV when the virus is suppressed in PWH-hence treatment as prevention. This finding was hailed as the scientific breakthrough of the year in 2011. Further research, most notably the Partners and Opposites Attract studies, corroborated the results.

A message from the Kirby Institute

Thank you to everyone who joined us in person, and through the livestream, 
for the events honouring Professor David Cooper AC.

We were overwhelmed by the turnout to both the memorial and the symposium by people from all facets of David’s life, and have been touched by the many positive comments from attendees. The memorial was an opportunity to reflect on David’s incredible life, and the symposium carved out a clear research agenda to take David’s vision into the future, as we work towards equal global access to preventions and treatments for infectious diseases. Though an emotional experience, we were so pleased with the outcome of these tribute events.

Hepatitis Awareness Month may have come to a close, but there are many opportunities to bring awareness about viral hepatitis. With more than 4 million Americans infected with viral hepatitis, and the number of new infections growing, we are still losing ground in the battle against viral hepatitis. The opioid epidemic in particular is fueling increases in hepatitis C with new hepatitis C infections more than tripling between 2010 and 2016, increases in hepatitis B cases in nine states from 2015-2016, and outbreaks of hepatitis A that have sickened more than 2,500 starting in January 2017 and affecting mostly people who inject drugs and those who are homeless. Despite these setbacks, scientific advances and improvements in health care make it possible to win the fight against viral hepatitis and save lives. So how will you join the fight? 

 

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Division of AIDS (NIAID/DAIDS), in partnership with the Forum for Collaborative Research organized the “Framework for Initiating Pediatric Studies of HIV Cure Interventions: Scientific knowledge gaps, regulatory and ethical considerations” workshop. This workshop, held May 22-23, 2018, in Rockville, Maryland, discussed regulatory pathway strategies for moving promising HIV cure products into pediatric trials. 

The workshop brought together investigators in the field of HIV persistence, academics, industry and product developers, ethicists, regulators and community advocates to discuss requirements for prioritizing and accelerating investigation of these products safely and ethically children living with HIV.