The HIV Forum is the longest-running workstream of the Forum for Collaborative Research, which was founded in 1997 as the Forum for Collaborative HIV Research. The HIV Forum works in close collaboration with stakeholders and is managed by Forum staff. It is led by a Steering Committee and guided by Scientific Advisory Committees. In-person meetings are convened as needed, with topic-specific working group conference calls and email/web-based communication in the intervening time. Agendas are determined by the Steering Committee and designed to focus on accelerating drug development and access by identifying gaps in research and implementation and synergizing ongoing work in HIV across various stakeholders. The HIV Forum brings together HIV experts from academia, regulatory and other national agencies, international organizations, industry, community, funders, and professional societies.

Read more about The Forum for Collaborative Research's history, achievements, operating procedures and working process.

Current Projects

HIV Prevention Project

The Forum’s contributions to the regulatory aspects of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) research began in 2008 through collaboration with the clinical trialists studying tenofovir and emtricitabine for HIV prevention. The HIV Prevention Project of the HIV Forum continues to address critical questions for clinical trials in HIV prevention by building consensus on ethical and feasible trial designs for PrEP and other HIV prevention products. It also addresses concerns regarding the implementation of new HIV prevention products, including long-term, real-world, and population-specific safety monitoring. The HIV Prevention Project has established several working groups, each tasked to address specific issues related to HIV prevention and advancing drug development. Read more here.

HIV Treatment and Cure Project

The Forum has been approached by stakeholders to build consensus on critical research and regulatory questions for the development of new HIV treatment options and HIV cure. To achieve this, the HIV Treatment and Cure Project is hosting a series of workshops involving diverse stakeholders. While HIV Treatment and Cure Project considers any approach to treatment and cure, broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) are a promising new strategy against HIV as they can directly inhibit HIV replication by targeting viral epitopes and indirectly by enhancing the host’s immune system. As biologics, they could have a favorable side effects profile. BnAbs are being developed for HIV prevention, treatment, and cure. Read more here.