Avac Event

NAM-AVAC Microbicides Webinar

This 90-minute webinar examined the current state of research into topical microbicides – gels, lubes and devices that can be used to prevent HIV transmission during sex. It provided advocates with an overview of global and European topical microbicide research. The presentations were followed by a question and answer session with our expert speakers.

The discussion was moderated by Gus Cairns. He is a writer at NAM, where he edits HIV treatment update and Preventing HIV. He also edits the HIV prevention news: Europe bulletin as part of NAM’s programme of European prevention advocacy. He is a member of the European AIDS Treatment Group, co-chair of the Steering Committee of the PROUD PrEP trial, and a member of the steering committee of the Global Forum for MSM and HIV.

Presenters:

  • Dr Sheena McCormack – Overview of topical microbicide research.

    McCormack is Senior Clinical Scientist at the Clinical Trials Unit of the UK Medical Research Council. She is Principal Investigator of the Microbicides Development Programme, which ran the MDP 301 Phase III microbicide trial in four countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and of the recently started PROUD trial of Truvada pre-exposure prophylaxis in UK gay men.

  • Dr Charles Kelly – News from the CHAARM microbicides research consortium

    Kelly, of King’s College London, is co-ordinator of the Combined Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Microbicides (CHAARM) programme, a collaborative project co-funded by the European Union under the 7th Framework Programme (FP7) for Research and Technological Development. CHAARM is a consortium of 31 partners representing 9 different countries in Europe including Ukraine, as well as South Africa and the US, with a €12m budget.

  • Jeremy Nuttall – Update on IPM’s pipeline: the dapivirine ring and beyond

    Nuttall is the Senior Director of Preclinical Sciences and Product Development for the International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM), where he is responsible for the preclinical testing of candidate microbicides and has broader product development responsibilities. Jeremy joined IPM in 2003 and has over 25 years of experience in drug development. Prior to IPM he worked as a toxicologist in contract research organisations and spent over 8 years in regulatory affairs at GlaxoSmithKline.

  • Harriet Langanke – Community advocacy for microbicides in Europe

    Langanke is founder and director of GSSG: Gemeinnützige Stiftung Sexualität und Gesundheit, the German Foundation on sexuality and health. She is a journalist who has worked in the field of HIV and sexual health since 1991; she is also one of the co-founders of Germany’s national network Women and AIDS which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. As an expert for HIV and STI prevention she works primarily for and with women.

Avac Event

European Contributions to the Search for an HIV Vaccine

This 90-minute webinar, moderated by Rebekah Webb, provided advocates with an overview of European efforts to develop an HIV vaccine through national and EU-funded programmes. The presentations were followed by a question and answer session with the expert speakers.

Avac Event

Beyond Daily Oral TDF/FTC as PrEP: Exploring new drugs and regimens for PrEP

PrEP researchers discussed ongoing trials of new oral PrEP interventions, including non-daily regimens (also described as “intermittent PrEP”) and new drugs such as maraviroc.

Principal investigators Bob Grant (ADAPT), Ken Mayer (NEXT-PrEP), Sheena McCormack (PROUD) and Jean-Michel Molina (ANRS Ipergay) joined the call. Their trials all seek to answer questions about strategies other than daily oral TDF/FTC and will provide important information on potential “second generation” oral PrEP.

Avac Event

United States Conference on AIDS

The United States Conference on AIDS (USCA) is set for September 30 – October 3, 2012 at Caesars Palace Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. For nearly two decades, USCA has sought “to increase the strength and diversity of the community-based response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic through education, training, new partnerships, collaboration and networking. This year, USCA will work to highlight the changes in our movement that have brought us closer than ever to ending the epidemic, and ways that we can move forward as a community to make this dream a reality.

To accomplish this, NMAC and its program partners are adjusting the format of this year’s conference to ensure that attendees get the most out of their experience. Day-long institutes, historically held on the first day of the conference, will be replaced by the first ever Summit to End the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in America. And in order to make the agenda more flexible, seminars will be held each day of the conference and the length of workshop and roundtable sessions will be shortened so that attendees can maximize their learning experience.

USCA Presentation: PrEP can protect women and men against HIV! What do we need to know and do so we can translate results into public health impact?

Avac Event

New Guidance on Daily Oral PrEP: What’s out there and what does it mean for advocates?

Representatives from the US Food and Drug Administration, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society, the British HIV Association and the British Association for Sexual Health and Gilead Sciences will discuss various guidelines on the use of and FDA approval of daily TDF/FTC as PrEP.

This webinar will familiarize advocates with the types of regulatory and normative guidance documents that exist on PrEP—what they say, who they affect and what they may mean for policy and programming in various countries.

Avac Event

AIDS Vaccine 2012

AIDS Vaccine is the largest global scientific conference focused exclusively on AIDS vaccine research. Hosted annually by the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise and local partners, AIDS Vaccine brings together the scientific minds to exchange the latest research findings, explore new ideas, educate future leaders and engage a diverse community to help further research to develop a safe and effective HIV vaccine.

View the program here.

For more information, click here.

WEBINARS

AIDS Vaccine Research: The latest news and conference details

This webinar featured leaders in the field providing updates on ongoing and planned efficacy trials, along with a review of the science behind neutralizing antibody research.

A recording is available here.

For background on each of these issues check out AVAC’s fact sheet series, AIDS Vaccine Science for Busy Advocates.

AVAC AT AIDS VACCINE 2012

Symposia 04: Cross-cutting Issues in Clinical Trial Design

In a symposium on cross-cutting issues in trial design, presenters offered ideas on whether and how PrEP may be added to ongoing and planned AIDS vaccine trials, and the ethical and practical challenges of defining the standard of prevention offered to trial participants as new strategies are identified. Slides are available:

Good Participatory Practice (GPP) Guidelines

HIV Vaccines & Microbicides Resource Tracking

CONFERENCE DETAILS

Each of the sessions in the conference program was webcast—see the full list here.

Our suggested webcast viewing is available here.

Additional coverage of AIDS Vaccine 2012 will appear in the forthcoming issue of Px Wire.

Avac Event

Introduction to Cure Research

In the wake of exciting new data presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Atlanta, AVAC hosted a webinar to review the current status on research towards an HIV/AIDS cure. The webinar featured Steven Deeks, MD, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, who discussed the latest research and what to look forward to in coming years, followed by a Q&A.

In addition, Science Speaks has a great overview of the webinar. Read “As headlines raise hopes, cure researchers manage expectations and challenges.”

Avac Event

What to expect in 2014 – where should prevention advocates put their energy?

This webinar kicked off our year-long dialogue about prevention research and advocacy, Research & Reality. We’ve designed the series to provide information and debate about key topics. Some of these are clear priorities, while others will undoubtedly emerge as data and country-level progress take us in new directions.

This webinar gave an idea of the issues we’re tracking in 2014 and discussed our advocacy timeline.

For more information on the series, AVAC’s 2014 advocacy timeline, links to register for upcoming webinars and archives of past calls, please visit www.avac.org/advocacy2014.

Click here to view the full Flash animation of the webinar.

Avac Event

Facing Questions about Hormonal Contraceptives and HIV: What’s next in getting answers?

In this call we learned about and discussed proposed research to directly evaluate how different family planning methods might impact HIV risk.

Trial designs are actively being discussed and funding is being sought for such research—but there are many questions where advocates’ voices are needed: What should a trial look like? How can method mix (the range of available family planning options) be expanded for all women? What can be done to better integrate HIV and family planning in the meantime?

View the full webinar here.

Avac Event

The Doc Is In: Prescribing, Managing and Billing for PrEP for HIV Prevention

The Los Angeles County PrEP Workgroup and AVAC’s PxROAR program presented the webinar The Doc is In: Prescribing, Managing and Billing for PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) for HIV Prevention. This webinar aimed to address some of the key issues around PrEP prescribing, such as concerns around drug resistance, cost and reimbursement, risk assessment and side effects, among others.

We were joined by Dr. Nika Seidman and Shannon Weber from the Bay Area Perinatal AIDS Center, and Dr. Tony Mills, a general medicine practitioner specializing in HIV care in Los Angeles.

View the full webinar here.