November 26, 2025
Since January 20, 2025, the new US Presidential Administration has made massive cuts to HIV research, dismantling the infrastructure for conducting research and pushing misinformation on the benefits of research. In rapid response, AVAC worked together with a volunteer coalition of the nation’s leading HIV researchers and advocates to conceptualize, organize, and host the 24-Hour Marathon to Save AIDS Research.
The virtual marathon featured 24-hours of live, interactive presentations, discussions, and learning sessions to raise awareness about the lifesaving contributions of HIV research and highlight what is at stake if funding continues to be stripped away.
This event is a core component of AVAC’s ongoing advocacy to protect HIV research from drastic cuts to research funding, programs and partnerships. Using our convening power, research expertise, and research translation experience, this group of dedicated individuals brought advocates and researchers together in solidarity and shared critical messages about why HIV research matters with the larger global community.
In the months prior to the marathon, AVAC and partners sounded the alarm that the government’s relentless cuts to critical foreign aid would soon be followed by attacks on public health, scientific research, and science at large. As predicted, in March 2025 the administration began to cancel grants and dismantle federal institutions, with immediate and devastating impact on HIV research. AVAC worked quickly to raise awareness, educate researchers, advocates, and partners, and collaborate with these groups to protect life-saving research. The network mobilized leading voices in research, strengthened advocacy skills through teach-ins, tools, and resources, educated policy makers, and disseminated timely and accurate information to track the impact of cuts to HIV research. Researchers and advocates harnessed this momentum to bring critical messages about the urgency of reversing funding cuts and the real-world impact of breakthroughs in HIV research to a larger audience.
Ultimately, the Save AIDS Research marathon on September 16-17 reached over 7,000 advocates, researchers, stakeholders, policy makers, journalists and community members from 28 countries and 30 U.S. states. The event featured 75 presenters representing major research institutions, public health organizations, civil society organizations and communities impacted by HIV all over the world, along with 42 endorsing organizations and robust engagement from viewers throughout all 24 hours of the livestream. (All 24 hours of content are available online for ongoing advocacy.) The marathon covered an incredible breadth of topics, including the legacy of innovation from HIV research; the role of advocacy in an equitable and effective HIV response; the implications of intersecting and emerging epidemics; advances in prevention, treatment, vaccine and cure research; the growing portfolio of Africa-led HIV prevention research; innovative models for delivering care; and community movements to sustain access to HIV services.
As an interactive, public event, participants also had the unique opportunity to engage directly with researchers, share their personal stories, connect with each other, and discuss ideas to strengthen future HIV research advocacy and action. As one livestream attendee reflected, “This is a valuable example of people uniting across sectors and across the globe to share evidence-based information on the importance of research.”
Dr. Joseph Eron, the Principal Investigator of the HIV/AIDS Clinical Research Unit at UNC-Chapel Hill and chair of the ACTG network, also reflected on the critical role of this kind of community engagement in research, commenting during his presentation in Hour 3, that the event was “a great example of dissemination to the community, something that’s open and accessible.”
What began as a simple idea became an incredible demonstration of the collective power and dedication of the HIV research community. Diverse members of the HIV research community came together to amplify global advocacy messages, counter misinformation, and strategically advocate to protect decades of progress to end the epidemic. Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, the former Director of NIAID, reinforced this belief in the strength of the field during her presentation in Hour 8: “No one can stop us if we continue to fight together, stand together and continue to tell the truth and advocate for science and for our patients and our community.”
Building on this momentum, AVAC and its partner network continue the fight to save HIV research from additional funding cuts. Materials from the marathon are being translated into tools and products to support further advocacy efforts. AVAC continues to track and update the impact of funding cuts, the recent government shutdown, and ongoing budget negotiations on HIV research.
Later this month, AVAC will relaunch an updated version of its groundbreaking Peoples Research Agenda (PRA) to highlight the risks to and priorities for the HIV prevention pipeline, how federal cuts impact the prevention pipeline, and what is needed to support advocates to take action.
As the field navigates the constantly evolving funding environment, AVAC will continue to do the critical work of tracking and translating the latest scientific and funding developments, and ensuring advocates are informed and supported in the ongoing fight to end HIV. Mitchell Warren, AVAC’s Executive Director affirmed, “Saving AIDS research is not a 24-hour exercise; it is a commitment from all of us involved to tackle this collective challenge.”