Evolving Strategies for an HIV Vaccine: One researcher explains where the field is going and why?
Produced and hosted by Jeanne Baron
With several large HIV vaccine trials in the last few years finding no efficacy, the field is in transition. There are diverse ideas in vaccine research, but there’s no clear concept that’s ready to test in a late-phase trial or move towards product development currently. Researchers are back to testing new ideas in early phase research.
In this episode of our Px Pulse podcast, Evolving Strategies for an HIV Vaccine: One researcher explains where the field is going and why?, Dr. Katy Stephenson explores the implications of recent trial results, the big questions driving next generation vaccine development, and new strategies underway in early phase research. Katy is a doctor, a researcher, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, affiliated with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and part of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research.
Experimental Medicine Vaccine Trials (EMVTs): Opportunities and Challenges
In 2023, AVAC and CASPR partners cast a spotlight on many issues and opportunities for HIV vaccine science. This one-pager highlights key conversations.
Avac Event
IAS (International AIDS Society) 2023
The 12th annual conference of the International AIDS Society (IAS) on HIV science takes place July 23–26 in Brisbane, Australia, and virtually. This year’s conference will offer the latest on vaccine and cure science, research updates on broadly neutralizing antibodies, important discussions on trial design in the era of PrEP, the potential of community-led models of care and the importance of integrating services for HIV and sexual and reproductive health (SRH). AVAC and partners will be there! Read on for an overview.
Just ahead of the conference, UNAIDS released their annual state of the epidemic report, The Path that Ends AIDS. The report charts a path that can end AIDS, and documents important progress, but challenges remain. Among them, global resources for HIV are marking another year of decline. With anti-LGTBQIA+ legal actions increasing in the US and in several African countries and reduced resources, efforts to end the epidemic will fail. See AVAC’s new graphic on the issue.
IAS Resources
Use AVAC’s Roadmap to find sessions where prevention, pandemic preparedness and the larger issues of global health equity are in the spotlight. You can download it as a sortable spreadsheet or PDF.
Follow events in real time, AVAC will offer comments and updates on Twitter, and our friends at NAM/AIDSMAP will be reporting throughout the conference. Join the conversation using the conference hashtag #IAS2023.
Satellites, Sessions and Panels Featuring AVAC and Partners
No Data No More: A tool to end the exclusion of trans and gender-diverse people in HIV research
Raising New Voices in HIV Cure Research: A review of an advocacy-for-cure academy and grant program
The Value of Measuring Outcomes of HIV Advocacy: Utilising a novel and participatory approach for advocacy evaluation
HIV Prevention Research & Development Investments 2001-2021: Shifting investment priorities fund innovation in a challenging global health landscape
Revolution of Transgender Health Programming: The role of transgender activists in Health programming for Malawi
While many will be gathering in Australia for the IAS conference, the 27th International Society for Sexually Transmitted Diseases Research (ISSTDR)is happening in Chicago at the same time – and AVAC will be there, too. Stay tuned for an update later this week for AVAC’s STI Roadmap and dedicated STI conference page. Advocates, implementers and researchers in both fields have much work to do together.
hivresourcetracking.org
The most up-to-date and comprehensive field-wide estimates for HIV prevention and R&D globally.
In its 16th annual report, the Resource Tracking for HIV Prevention Research & Development Working Group documents research and development spending for the calendar year 2020 and analyzes funding trends spanning twenty years.
Pregnant and Lactating People (PLP) in Ongoing HIV Prevention Trials
Current trends for investment in HIV prevention R&D by technology
Status Updates on Ongoing and Planned HIV Prevention Trials
The world is grappling with the far-reaching impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the HIV prevention field is no different. Most trials investigating new biomedical HIV prevention products have paused, citing concerns for the safety of trial participants and the study teams.
How COVID-19 is impacting research varies by trial and site, and efforts are ongoing to minimize impact on trial timelines and data. AVAC will continue to monitor developments—watch this space.
AIDS Vaccines by the Numbers: Trials, discoveries, money and more
We know that an AIDS vaccine is possible and that a vaccine will be an important part of a long-term strategy to end the AIDS epidemic. The road ahead is long, but clinical trials—even those with disappointing results—and early-stage research provide critical clues to the way forward. The graphics below represent key facts about the AIDS vaccine field.
HIV Vaccines: An introductory factsheet
This is an updated introductory two-page document that describes HIV vaccines research and reviews key developments in the field.
