Introducing From the Lab to the Jab: A new series of advocates’ guides

AVAC is excited to launch From the Lab to the Jab, a new series of advocates’ guides that highlight key advocacy issues to ensure equitable access to safe, effective, and affordable vaccines.

Co-created as part of our USAID-supported Coalition to Accelerate and Support Prevention Research (CASPR), with additional support from the New Venture Fund, From the Lab to the Jab issue briefs provide a roadmap for advocacy to advance the development and delivery of essential vaccines for HIV, COVID-19, tuberculosis, and other global public health threats, and approaches to ensure equitable access to these life-saving vaccines.

Go to avac.org/FromLabToJab to learn about next generation vaccine research and development; the basics of mRNA technology; initiatives that support local manufacturing; and understanding and overcoming barriers that undermine equitable access to vaccines. Each brief also highlights the advocacy needed to keep these efforts on track and in line with what communities need and want. 

Stay tuned for an invitation to join the From the Lab to the Jab Webinar in January 2024, and be part of the conversation that will use these briefs to strengthen advocacy and create a roadmap to achieve key transformational priorities in global health. 

From the Lab to the Jab

A series of advocate guides to the latest in vaccine R&D

From the Lab to Jab are a series of briefs to learn the latest in vaccine R&D for HIV, COVID-19, TB and other global public health threats. Access them all here and stay tuned for a related webinar in early 2024. Watch this space or sign up for our email newsletter.

PrEP Resources Showcase

This dynamic, workshop-style showcase was the first of a series that featured multimedia presentations that took participants through key PrEP resources including: A toolkit to ensure programs related to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and HIV prevention are well designed to reach and support adolescent girls and young women. Comprehensive databases for tracking PrEP uptake, Implementation research and other critical data by product, country, and population.  

Small groups had opportunities to take deep dives into each of the above resources, and explore how they might use these in their work. Additionally, participants provided input on what resources are still needed, collaborate on how to improve and disseminate what exists, and support the development of evidence and networks to advance HIV prevention.

Global PrEP Tracker video / Integrated Study Dashboard video / Breaking the Cycle Toolkit video

On Transgender Day of Remembrance AVAC Announces TG ROAR 2023

Today, on Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), as communities across the globe memorialize trans and gender nonconforming (TGNC) people targeted by violence and state-sanctioned bigotry, AVAC honors the trans community—those lost and those among us. We are committed, now more than ever, to fight these ongoing injustices and support TGNC advocates to lead on issues facing their communities.  

Riding the momentum of the release of the No Data No More Manifesto and the Trans-Inclusivity Scorecard, AVAC is relaunching TG ROAR, a program from our larger PxROAR initiative, dedicated to supporting TGNC HIV advocates in Eastern and Southern Africa. The new eight-member cohort will campaign for trans-centered, HIV research and service delivery while addressing the social, political and economic barriers that all too often stand in the way. 

Crimes against TGNC are on the rise as are rates of HIV incidence in trans populations. TGNC face unique barriers to testing, adherence to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and maintaining viral suppression. Without meaningful trans inclusion in advocacy efforts there will be no epidemic control.  

Learn more about AVAC’s new cohort of TG ROAR advocates here: 

We continue to fight for transgender rights and invest in TGNC leadership to create a more equitable and just future for all.

The HIV Prevention Pipeline

This graphic shows currently available options for HIV prevention, newly approved and recommended treatment, and those in development.

Let’s Talk About HIV Cure Research: An introduction to the science under investigation

Dr. Marina Caskey of Rockefeller University and members of the REACH Community Advisory Board hosted a webinar on November 15 to review the current state of HIV cure research. This webinar explored what makes curing HIV so challenging, the strategies being pursued, and what is happening in locally in NYC!

Watch the full recording

Announcing the Good Participatory Practice Body of Evidence

We are thrilled to announce the Good Participatory Practice (GPP) Body of Evidence, a new online clearinghouse of case studies and analyses demonstrating the power of GPP, along with tools, templates and trainings for GPP implementation. The resources we’ve gathered for this much-needed “one-stop GPP shop” can be used to show the impact of GPP to date, how it can be measured going forward, and its practical application in real-time.  

The Good Participatory Practice Guidelines have been shaping and improving HIV prevention research since 2007. They provide a global reference guide for ethical and effective stakeholder engagement, helping ensure the priorities of trial participants and their communities are centered in clinical trials and broader research agendas.  

Over the past 16 years, the original GPP guidelines for HIV prevention have been issued in 10 languages and adapted to other disease areas, including tuberculosis, COVID-19, and emerging pathogens. GPP has given rise to a robust global community of practice, with an expansive history of lessons learned and success stories for the world to build upon. 

But GPP implementation is far from easy. Because GPP looks different in every context and outcomes can be difficult to quantify, engagement work is often seen as secondary to clinical processes, and therefore undervalued and under-resourced. The GPP Body of Evidence demonstrates the contribution of GPP to the research enterprise, and the professionalization of GPP implementation. 

Rest assured that this is not a one-off effort! Stay tuned for a webinar series in 2024 with key partners including WHO and Wellcome Trust that will highlight critical issues in stakeholder engagement in research, linking to corresponding resources from the Body of Evidence. And we’ll be keeping the Body of Evidence up to date – so please reach out if you have resources to add.  

It’s time for GPP to become an international standard for clinical research. Making that case and making it happen, using the GPP Body of Evidence, has never been easier.  

Avac Event

How Our Environment Impacts Cure

Wednesday, December 13, 1:00 to 2:30 PM ET

Featuring Dr. Adam Ward, Weill Cornell Medicine

This webinar will review concepts presented in previous webinars, Let’s Talk About HIV Cure Research: An Introduction to the science under investigation and Sex, Gender & HIV Cure Research and begin to discuss how external factors like treatment initiation and exposure to other diseases impact cure approaches.

Objectives:

  1. Review key concepts and terminology of HIV cure research and sex differences
  2. Introduce the impact of time to treatment initiation on HIV cure
  3. Introduce the impact of co-infections and the power of the immune system

Avac Event

Sex, Gender & HIV Cure Research

Wednesday, December 6, 1:00 to 2:00 PM ET

This webinar will review core concepts discussed in the previous webinar, Let’s Talk About HIV Cure Research: An Introduction to the science under investigation and introduce how hormones may impact cure strategies. 

Featuring Dr. Jessica Prodger Western University

Objectives: 

  1. Review key concepts and terminology of HIV cure
  2. Known sex differences of HIV progression
  3. Potential impact of hormones on HIV cure strategies

Avac Event

Let’s Talk About HIV Cure Research: An Introduction to the science under investigation

Wednesday, November 15, 11:00 to 12:30 PM ET

Dr. Marina Caskey of Rockefeller University and members of the REACH Community Advisory Board hosted a webinar on November 15 to review the current state of HIV cure research. This webinar explored what makes curing HIV so challenging, the strategies being pursued, and what is happening in locally in NYC!