Avac Event

Hormonal contraception and HIV: Putting new developments in context

In this call, panelists discussed what the WHO grading system for family planning methods is, what impact a change in classification for DMPA and NET-EN has for women, programs and research, and what needs to happen next.

Listen to a recording of the call (mp3, YouTube).

AVAC has developed a plain language fact sheet on this topic and a full range of resources can be found here. This includes, “Now more than ever,” a statement from members of the Civil Society Advocacy Working Group on HC-HIV. This statement puts the developments with DMPA in the broader context of women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights which are needed—now more than ever. There is even more urgency in this work in light of today’s reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule prohibiting abortion-related services or advocacy by foreign recipients of US family planning dollars. The updated resource page also includes statement from the ECHO trial (an ongoing study of how different contraceptive methods impact women’s risk of HIV).

We continued this conversation with Dr. James Kiarie, coordinator of the Human Reproduction Team at the World Health Organization. To listen, visit here.

Avac Event

Webinar: CDC and WHO Review Current PrEP Guidelines

Hundreds of people tuned in to hear researchers discuss the available data on “time to protection” required for effective oral PrEP with TDF/FTC—i.e., how many doses must be taken to build up protective levels of the drug in the blood? The answer is—it varies. Not surprisingly then, so do the guidelines for PrEP use.

As webinar participants learned, the data are varied and subject to interpretation. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend different time frames to reach protection in their respective guidelines for oral PrEP use. Both of these recommendations are based on measurements of the amount of drug that accumulates in blood and/or tissue over a specific period of time. The studies of how drugs are taken into the body and how they leave the body is called “pharmacokinetics” and “pharmacodynamics” or “PK” and “PD” for short, as explained in our primer for advocates. There isn’t a single PK measurement that is associated with PrEP protection—so both WHO and CDC guidelines are based on inference.

AVAC hosted a follow-on webinar presentation where representatives from both the CDC and WHO reviewed their respective guidance development processes and the role, use, contexts and audience for guidance documents.

Watch the recording on YouTube, listen to an mp3 version or download the slides. Q&A starts approximately 55 minutes in.

Avac Event

Webinar with WHO on Hormonal Contraception and HIV

In this webinar, we were joined by Dr. James Kiarie, coordinator of the Human Reproduction Team at the World Health Organization. Dr. Kiarie presented new guidance from WHO on hormonal contraceptive eligibility for women at high risk of HIV. He also fielded questions from webinar participants.

Recording

YouTube / Slides / Audio

This webinar builds on a March 10 webinar on this topic, which featured advocates and clinicians putting the guidance in context. A recording of that conversation is available here.

Avac Event

HIV Vaccine Awareness Day 2017 Webinar Series

This year marks the 20th anniversary of HIV Vaccine Awareness Day (HVAD). As HIV prevention advocates, we find ourselves in new terrain when it comes to vaccine research—both in terms of scientific progress and the challenging political environment. We highlight these important issues in an HVAD webinar series leading up to and ending on May 18.

Recordings of the webinars available here:

  • Ad26 Mosaic Program—Janssen’s Maria Pau discusses preparations for the next efficacy trial
    April 28 – YouTube / Audio / Slides
  • The History—and Future—of the NIH’s Vaccine Research Center with Barney Graham
    May 4 – YouTube / Audio / Slides
  • Building on (and Building!) Success—status of HVTN 702 with Fatima Laher
    May 8 – YouTube / Audio / Slides
  • “Plan B”-NAb? An Overview of Antibody Research with Lynn Morris
    May 11 – YouTube / Audio / Slides
  • An Overview of Vaccine Development with Julie Ake of MHRP
    May 18 – YouTube / Audio / Slides

Avac Event

Webinar: Ad26 Mosaic Program—Janssen’s Maria Pau discusses preparations for the next efficacy trial

The HIV Vaccine Awareness Day 2017 webinar series kicked off with an overview of the Ad26/mosaic vaccine efficacy program from Janssen’s Maria Grazia Pau. This strategy is notable both for the science and for the active leadership from industry. Dr. Pau did a terrific job of explaining where the strategy fits into the broader vaccine field.

Recording Available: YouTube / Audio / Slides

This was one in a series of HIV Vaccine Awareness Day webinars. For details on all other calls, including recordings, visit here.

Avac Event

Webinar: The History—and Future—of the NIH’s Vaccine Research Center with Barney Graham

Long-time vaccine researcher Barney Graham presented an excellent overview of the history and work of NIH’s Vaccine Research Center (VRC)—established two decades ago on the inaugural HIV Vaccine Awareness Day (HVAD) in 1997. Download the recording for an accessible overview of the HIV vaccine field, the connections between the work on HIV and other vaccines at the VRC and tips on what advocates and researchers should be calling for this HVAD.

Recording Available: YouTube / Audio / Slides

This was one in a series of HIV Vaccine Awareness Day webinars. For details on all other calls, including recordings, visit here.

Avac Event

Webinar: Building on (and Building!) Success—Status of HVTN 702 with Fatima Laher

Dr. Fatima Laher, protocol co-chair of HVTN 702, provides an overview of the first HIV vaccine efficacy trial in seven years. Her presentation looks at the history, starting with partial success of RV144 in 2009, and talks about the role HVTN 702 as the field advances toward an effective vaccine.

Recording: YouTube / Audio / Slides

This was one in a series of HIV Vaccine Awareness Day webinars. For details on all other calls, including recordings, visit here.

Avac Event

Making AIDS History: A Roadmap for Ending the Epidemic


Where: Senate Hart Office Building – Room 902
When: Noon − 5pm
Additional details: Lunch will be served

To RSVP, click here.

For information, contact [email protected] or 571-286-5950.

Topics will include HIV/AIDS and the opioid epidemic, aging with HIV/AIDS, the national security implications of epidemics, and the need for cutting-edge research and services to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Speakers include:

  • Ambassador Deborah Birx
    Global AIDS Coordinator, US Department of State
  • Susan J. Blumenthal, MD, MPA
    Senior Policy and Medical Advisor, amfAR
    Former US Assistant Surgeon General
  • Michael Botticelli
    Director, Grayken Center for Addiction Medicine, Boston University Medical Center
    Former Director, White House Office of National Drug Control Policy
  • Kenneth Cole
    Chairman of the Board, amfAR
  • Tony Fauci, MD
    Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH
  • Maureen Goodenow, PhD
    Director, Office of AIDS Research, National Institutes of Health
  • Ron Klain
    Former White House Ebola Response Coordinator
    Executive Vice President, Revolution
  • Holly Kuzmich
    Executive Director, The Bush Institute
  • Jonathan Mermin, MD, MPH
    Director, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
  • Michel Sidibé
    Executive Director, UNAIDS
    Under-Secretary-General, United Nations
  • Judy Woodruff, Moderator
    Anchor and Managing Editor, PBS Newshour

Avac Event

Webinar: “Plan B”-NAb? An Overview of Antibody Research with Lynn Morris

Dr. Lynn Morris, head of HIV Virology at South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases and professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, provided an overview of antibody research for HIV prevention. She laid out the current landscape; provided a glimpse of what is to come in this dynamic field; talked about where antibody work fits in the larger field of prevention research; and described how the Antibody Mediated Prevention (AMP) studies – ongoing proof-of-concept trials of the broadly neutralizing antibody VRC01 – might advance HIV prevention.

This was the fourth in our series of HIV Vaccine Awareness Day webinars. For details on the full series, visit avac.org/hvad.

Recording: YouTube / Audio / Slides

Avac Event

HVTN Full Group Meeting

For more information, including the At-A-Glance and full program, click here.

Where:
Omni Shoreham Hotel
2500 Calvert Street NW
Washington, DC 20008